Customers of streaming pay television services are more satisfied with their experience compared to traditional cable and satellite services, according to the latest report by J.D. Power.
Utilizing a 1,000-point scale to gauge customer satisfaction, the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Television Service Provider Satisfaction Study revealed online-based pay TV services like YouTube TV, Philo and Sling TV had a total of 625 points compared to traditional pay TV platforms with 524 points.
Among streaming services, YouTube TV had the highest customer satisfaction score with 651 points, marking the second consecutive year that the streaming service topped J.D. Power’s survey. The Walt Disney Company’s Hulu with Live TV placed second with 635 points.
According to J.D. Power, customers ranked price as one of the factors in determining their satisfaction with a service. The monthly average cost of a streaming-based cable TV service is around $75, the measurement firm said, compared to around $120 per month for traditional cable and satellite.
That isn’t to say that customers are inherently dissatisfied with traditional TV service. Many still prefer the conveniences of an always-on product, where finding the precise sports event or prime-time show is just a matter of knowing the channel number associated with a station or network.
To that end, J.D. Power revealed Charter’s Spectrum TV was the highest-ranked national TV provider with a score of 530, followed by Comcast’s Xfinity TV at 529.
To be evaluated in the survey, cable and satellite providers had to agree to be ranked on a regional basis as well. Verizon Fios TV ranked the highest in the eastern region with a score of 570, marking its third-consecutive year as the highest-ranked cable TV product in that region. DirecTV ranked just behind Verizon Fios with a score of 520.
In the north-central and southern region, Xfinity TV ranked highest with a score of 528 and 570 respectively. Spectrum ranked behind Xfinity with a score of 516 in the north-central region, while Cox Communications had the second-highest score in the south at 547.
In the western U.S., Spectrum TV had the highest score at 534, followed by Xfinity TV at 517 and Dish network at 516.
A spokesperson for J.D. Power said the full customer satisfaction survey was not available to reporters because it contains information that the company considers to be proprietary.
