Satellite Providers Top J.D. Power, Again
By Steve Donohue -- Multichannel News, 8/21/2006
DirecTV Inc. and Dish Network once again dominated J.D. Power & Associates’ annual customer-satisfaction survey, while Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable operator, ranked below average in all regions.
Adelphia Communications Corp. — recently absorbed by Time Warner Cable and Comcast — ranked at the bottom of the survey in the East, North-Central and West regions.
| Distributor | Region | Points |
| DirecTV | East | 686 |
| Cox | West | 690 |
| Bright House | South | 682 |
| Wide Open West | North-Central | 708 |
| Source: J.D. Power & Associates | ||
J.D. Power ranked DirecTV as the best pay TV company overall, with the direct-broadcast satellite provider receiving the top rankings in such categories as performance and reliability; cost of service; billing; image; offerings and promotions; and customer service. It also set the pace in terms of overall satisfaction.
DirecTV scored the most points, 686, in J.D. Power’s survey in the East region, where it was followed by Cox Communications Inc. (664), EchoStar Communications Corp.’s Dish Network (648) and Time Warner (637). Pay TV providers scoring below average in the East included Cablevision Systems Corp. (607), Comcast (591), RCN Corp. (590), Charter Communications Inc. (575) and Adelphia (562).
Cox was the top pay TV provider in the West, scoring 690 points, trailed by Dish (662) and DirecTV (661). Companies scoring below average in the West region: Comcast (622), Time Warner (605), Charter (596), Cable One Inc. (587), Mediacom Communications Corp. (577) and Adelphia (544).
Bright House Networks led the customer-satisfaction survey in the South region, scoring 682 points. Also scoring high marks there were DirecTV (676), Time Warner (651), Dish (647), Cable One (644), Cox (640) and Insight Communications Co. (639). Companies scoring below average in the South were Comcast (591), Adelphia (579), Charter (571) and Mediacom (563).
The North-Central region was led by cable overbuilder WideOpenWest, which scored 708 points. It was followed in the region by DirecTV (677), Dish (648) and Time Warner Inc. (636). Companies ranking below average in the north central: Charter (603), Comcast (586), Mediacom (574), Bright House (566) and Adelphia (545).
The good news for cable: Digital-cable penetration increased from 30% in 2005 to 41% in 2006, according to J.D. Power.
The firm also found that bundling helped to reduce cable bills. Cable subscribers reported that they spent an average of $58 monthly, down $1 from 2005, while satellite subscribers reported spending $61 per month, up $3 from 2005.
Digital video recorder penetration is also on the rise, with J.D. Power reporting that 38% of cable subscribers have DVRs, compared with 25% of satellite customers.
The survey was based on responses from 15,819 U.S. households that evaluated their cable or satellite providers, J.D. Power said.
