(Image credit: FuboTV)
By Mike Farrell
Source: www.nexttv.com, September 2022

Cable and satellite average 699 satisfaction score, streamers average 774; Dish ranks first in three categories

FuboTV ranked first among live TV streaming service providers and Dish Network topped cable and satellite companies in the latest J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey, as consumers picked price as the biggest driver in choosing a video offering.

FuboTV led live TV streamers with a score of 789 out of a possible 1,000 points, the first year that J.D. Power offered the category. FuboTV was followed by Sling TV (786), YouTube TV (779), Hulu + Live TV (775) and DirecTV Stream (751) in the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Television Service Provider Satisfaction Study. Overall, streaming companies had an overall score of 774, far outpacing their cable and satellite competition, which had an overall showing of 699 points.

(Image credit: J.D. Power)

In a press release, J.D. Power said consumers picked price as the deciding factor in choosing a TV service provider. Cable and satellite video service providers charged an average of $110 per month while streamers charged an average of $68 per month, according to the survey.

“Delivering video to myriad devices both in-home and mobile is actually pretty difficult and yet the service providers in cable, satellite and streaming all make it look easy, creating ever higher customer expectations,” said J.D. Power managing director Ian Greenblatt in a press release. “Highest quality content is quite costly to produce or acquire for all providers. Operating the needed networks and equipment for cable and satellite TV from start to finish versus streamers who can use those networks for middle and last-mile delivery for hundreds of thousands of concurrent streams, are vastly different at a product level regarding cost.  Live TV streamers (and their customers) are therefore the beneficiaries of the imbalance and can be seen as providing more value for the subscription dollars spent.”

Dish was the top ranked cable and satellite service provider nationally for the fifth year in a row, with a score of 720. Comcast’s Xfinity service placed second with 706 points and DirecTV finished third with 699 points.

(Image credit: J.D. Power)

Dish took the cable and satellite regional crown in two other areas — the South Region (comprising Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas) with a score of 736; and the West region (including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming) with a score of 716.

Midco (formerly Midcontinent Communications) was the highest ranked cable operator in the North Central Region (comprising Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin) with a score of 721. Comcast’s Xfinity placed second in that region with a 701 score and Dish finished third with a score of 701.

In the East Region, Verizon Fios grabbed the top spot among cable and satellite service providers with a score of 749, followed by Dish (713) and Xfinity (699). ■

Mike Farrell
Mike Farrell

Mike Farrell is senior content producer, finance for Multichannel News/B+C, covering finance, operations and M&A at cable operators and networks across the industry. He joined Multichannel News in September 1998 and has written about major deals and top players in the business ever since. He also writes the On The Money blog, offering deeper dives into a wide variety of topics including, retransmission consent, regional sports networks,and streaming video. In 2015 he won the Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Profile, an in-depth look at the Syfy Network’s Sharknado franchise and its impact on the industry.