Customer satisfaction with television service providers has increased considerably from 2008 as a result of improvements in outages and problem resolution, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 U.S. Residential Television Service Satisfaction Study released today.
Overall satisfaction averages 632 on a 1,000-point scale--an increase of 23 points from 609 in 2008, which marked the lowest industry average during the past five years.
The positive impact of these changes has also driven an improvement in intention to recommend television service providers. Among customers who receive programming from satellite providers, 78 percent say they "definitely will" or "probably will" recommend their provider to others, an increase of 6 percentage points from 2008. Sixty percent of cable customers say the same--an increase of 5 percentage points from 2008.
The study measures customer satisfaction with cable, satellite and IPTV television providers in four regional segments: North Central, East, West and South. In each segment, five factors are measured to determine overall customer satisfaction: performance and reliability; customer service; cost of service; billing; and offerings and promotions.
For a second consecutive year, AT&T U-verse ranks highest in the West (with an index score of 721) and South (718) regions. In the East region, Verizon FiOS ranks highest for a second consecutive year with a score of 714, while WOW! ranks highest in the North Central Region (724).
The study also finds that the number of cable customers who subscribe to additional premium channels has declined to 29 percent in 2009 from 32 percent in 2008. The number of customers who utilize video-on-demand (VOD) and pay-per-view services has also moderately declined, as 33 percent report using VOD (compared with 35 percent in 2008) and 16 percent report using pay-per-view (compared with 18 percent in 2008).
The 2009 U.S. Residential Television Service Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 28,118 U.S. households that evaluated their cable, satellite or IPTV provider. The study was fielded in January, March and July 2009.
Customer Satisfaction Index Ranking
East Region
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)
JDPower.com Power Circle Ratings
Provider Index Score For Consumers
-------- ----------- --------------------------------
Verizon FiOS 714 5
DIRECTV 684 4
DISH Network 669 4
iO TV (Cablevision) 649 3
Cox 644 3
East Region Major Provider
Average 635 3
Time Warner Cable 622 3
RCN 602 2
Comcast 597 2
Charter 566 2
North Central Region
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)
JDPower.com Power Circle Ratings
Provider Index Score For Consumers
-------- ----------- --------------------------------
WOW! 724 5
AT&T U-verse 715 5
Verizon FiOS 712 5
DIRECTV 674 4
Insight 672 4
Cox 652 4
DISH Network 650 4
North Central Region Major
Provider Average 625 3
Bright House Networks 618 3
Time Warner Cable 605 3
Comcast 590 2
Charter 573 2
Mediacom 555 2
South Region
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)
JDPower.com Power Circle Ratings
Provider Index Score For Consumers
-------- ----------- --------------------------------
AT&T U-verse 718 5
Verizon FiOS 702 4
DIRECTV 685 4
Bright House Networks 674 4
Insight 658 4
DISH Network 654 4
Cox 641 3
South Region Major
Provider Average 635 3
Cable One 632 3
Suddenlink 632 3
Time Warner Cable 612 3
Comcast 579 2
Charter 573 2
Mediacom 560 2
West Region
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)
JDPower.com Power Circle Ratings
Provider Index Score For Consumers
-------- ----------- --------------------------------
AT&T U-verse 718 5
Verizon FiOS 702 4
DIRECTV 685 4
Bright House Networks 674 4
Insight 658 4
DISH Network 654 4
Cox 641 3
South Region Major
Provider Average 635 3
Cable One 632 3
Suddenlink 632 3
Time Warner Cable 612 3
Comcast 579 2
Charter 573 2
Mediacom 560 2