Satellite Still Tops in J.D. Power Study

[Gregg Lengling]

Satellite TV continues to beat cable in terms of overall customer satisfaction, with EchoStar's DISH Network and DirecTV topping the wired technology again in this year's J.D. Power and Associates study on consumers and the pay-TV business, released Wednesday by the marketing research firm.

The two satellite TV companies received the highest customer satisfaction rankings among the 13 largest providers of cable and DBS service. DISH Network regained its No. 1 ranking from 2000, receiving top ratings from customers in three of six factors that drive overall satisfaction: Billing, cost of service and offerings, and promotions. DirecTV was close behind DISH Network in the rankings, followed by cable companies WideOpenWest, Cox Communications, RCN and Bright House Networks.

Customer service once again re-established itself as the top driver of consumer satisfaction, contributing to 26 percent of the overall customer satisfaction index score, J.D. Power said. The factor weighting is the highest seen for any factor in the J.D. Power cable/satellite TV study, representing a stark contrast to the 10 percent weighting that the customer service factor averaged over the previous three years, the firm said.

The study also found that the current average monthly expenditure for pay TV service is $49.08 among satellite subscribers and $50.98 among cable subscribers.

The 2004 study is based on responses from 8,668 U.S. households who evaluated their satellite or cable TV providers, J.D. Power said.