Google-owned premium television service YouTube TV received the top honor among streaming cable TV replacements in J.D. Power’s recent customer satisfaction survey, earning a score of 795 out of a possible 1,000.
The score was higher than any traditional cable or satellite service, according to the survey released on Thursday, with Dish earning a score of 709 among satellite providers and Verizon Fios grabbing a score of 746 among traditional cable TV services.
YouTube TV’s score was also several points higher than last year’s top honor recipient, Fubo, which earned a customer satisfaction score of 789 points in 2022. This year, Fubo clocked in with a score of 742, putting the service lower than Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and DirecTV Stream, and far below the segment average of 781.
The full methodology used to gauge customer satisfaction wasn’t immediately clear. A spokesperson who provided a copy of J.D. Power’s press release to The Desk said the company doesn’t release the full survey to reporters because it contains “proprietary information.”
The survey also asked customers whether they were more likely to switch between traditional pay television and cable-like streaming services over the next year, with around 21 percent affirming their desire to do so. Just 12 percent of customers who currently pay for a cable-like streaming service said they were thinking about switching services over the next 12 months, according to J.D. Power.
“Although the cost of running a cable or satellite providing company is innately more expensive given the engineering and execution of such a service, it is hard to ignore the vast difference in cost between them and the live TV streaming companies,” Carl Lepper, the senior director of technology, media and telecom at J.D. Power, said in a statement on Thursday.
“Despite the varying cost, streaming is succeeding in all areas, especially customer care,” Lepper continued. “Of the mere 30 percent of all streaming customers contacting customer service this year, 84 percent feel that it was somewhat or very easy to resolve their problem. This is key to not only maintaining their current customer base, but also for continued growth.”
That might account for the fact that customer satisfaction among all services — traditional cable, satellite and streaming — was higher this year compared to prior years, suggesting companies are winning subscribers over with new approaches to customer service, differentiated programming packages and other perks like bundled products.
The customer satisfaction scores as released by J.D. Power is below (scores are out of a possible 1,000):
Cable / Satellite TV — National
- Dish Network: 709
- DirecTV satellite: 705
- Spectrum TV (Charter): 700
- Xfinity TV (Comcast): 697
- Cox TV: 692
- Study Average: 701
Streaming Cable TV Alternative — Overall
- YouTube TV: 795
- Hulu with Live TV: 785
- Sling TV: 772
- DirecTV streaming: 748
- Fubo: 742
- Study Average: 781
