Customer Satisfaction With Pay TV Services Remains Low

June 1, 2012

This article is included in these additional categories:

Brand Metrics | Broadcast & Cable | Media & Entertainment | Newspapers | PR | Telecom | Television

asci-customer-satisfaction-with-information-sector-may12.jpgCustomer satisfaction with pay TV providers remains relatively low, and appears to have plateaued after gradually rising from 2005-2010, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The index for subscription TV services is flat at 66 on ASCI’s 100-point scale, a score it has held since 2010. Verizon FIOS leads with a score of 76, up 2 points from 74 in 2011, outpacing its nearest competitor, DISH network, which improved from 67 to 69. Time Warner Cable jumped 4 points from an industry-worst 59 to 63, while Charter Communications stayed in the bottom spot again at 59.

Dissatisfaction with pay TV providers comes amidst various reports showing anywhere between 9 and 16% of pay TV subscribers either canceling or looking to cut back on their service.

iPhone Tops Among Cellphones

According to the ASCI Index, satisfaction with cellphones continues its gradual decline, dropping a point to an overall score of 74. Apple performed best in the category, with a score of 83, easily outpacing Nokia, LG Electronics, and HTC, each at 75. Motorola suffered a 5.2% fall year-over-year, from 77 to 73, although it remained ahead of Samsung, which also experienced a drop, from 74 to 71. RIM, which continues to struggle, posted the lowest score, of 69.

Fixed Line and Wireless Services On Par

Fixed line telephone services experienced a marked decline in customer satisfaction, falling 4.1% from 73 in 2011 to 70 this year, and dropping the industry into a tie for the first time with wireless telephone services, which slipped a point, also to 70. Among both fixed line and wireless telephone services, the aggregate of smaller local and long distance providers surpassed their larger industry peers, each posting a score of 76. Sprint had the highest score among the larger wireless service providers (71), while Cox Communications led the larger fixed line providers, also at 71.

Other Findings:

  • The motion pictures industry rebounded to a score of 76 this year, after declining from that score to 73 between 2010 and 2011.
  • The computer software industry posted the highest overall score of the information sector, at 77.
  • Customer satisfaction with newspapers dropped a point to 64, the lowest of all 47 industries tracked by the ACSI.
  • Network and cable TV news also fell after reaching a peak of 77 last year, registering a 74 on the index this year.
  • The overall national index score improved to 75.9 in Q1 2012, its highest score since Q3 2010.

About the Data: The American Customer Satisfaction Index is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States. Data from interviews with approximately 70,000 customers annually are used as inputs into an econometric model to measure satisfaction with more than 225 companies in 47 industries and 10 economic sectors, along with over 200 services, programs, and websites of approximately 130 federal government agencies. ACSI results are released on a monthly basis, with all measures reported using a scale of 0 to 100.

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