AT&T, DirecTV beat cable in J.D. Power pay TV customer satisfaction survey

AT&T's (NYSE: T) U-verse TV and DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) topped cable MSOs in J.D. Power's annual customer satisfaction survey of pay TV subscribers. AT&T's IPTV was the top ranked service in the South, North Central and West regions, while DirecTV was the top provider in the East.

Click here for details of regional rankings.

Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), Cox Communications and other cable MSOs trailed U-verse, Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) FiOS TV, DirecTV and Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) in most regions. Verizon FiOS placed second in the East, followed by Dish, Cox, Cablevision (NYSE: CVC), Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR) and RCN (Nasdaq: RCNI).

Bright House Networks placed second in the South. It was followed by Verizon FiOS, Dish, DirecTV, Cox, Insight Communications, Time Warner Cable, Comcast and Charter.

Cable overbuilder WideOpenWest took second place in the North Central region, topping DirecTV, Insight, Dish, Bright House, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Charter. Verizon's FiOS placed second in the West, followed by DirecTV, Dish, Cox, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter and Mediacom Communications.

Also worth noting from the J.D. Power survey:

• DVR penetration jumped to 45 percent in 2011 from 38 percent last year. About 35 percent of cable households and 45 percent of satellite homes have more than one DVR.
• The average bill for a subscriber who takes a triple-play of pay TV programming, high-speed Internet and telephone service is $145.52, up from $140.90 in 2010.
• VoD viewership in cable homes increased to 39 percent in 2011 from 35 percent in 2010. J.D. Power said VoD viewing appears to improve subscriber loyalty, with about 39 percent of viewers who watch 10 or more hours of VoD per month saying that they consider themselves loyal to their provider.

While telcos and satellite providers topped cable MSOs in customer satisfaction for TV services, cable MSOs beat their telco rivals in a recent J.D. Power survey of residential telephone subscribers, which was led by Bright House and Cox. The J.D. Power survey results show that consumers may tend to rank new entrants higher in customer satisfaction levels.

For more:
-  see the news release

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