AT&T top gun again in JD Power TV ratings

Telecom service providers and AT&T in particular were the big winners in JD Power and Associates’ 2009 US Residential Television Service Satisfaction Study, released today. The big losers included Comcast and Time Warner Cable, which finished below the regional average rankings in each of the four regions.

AT&T’s U-Verse service was ranked as the top service in the South and West regions, besting Verizon FiOS TV in those areas, and was second to WOW! (WideOpenWest) in the North Central region. Verizon FiOS TV finished on top in the East region.

While a direct comparison between AT&T and Verizon isn't possible, since they don't serve the same footprint, AT&T's top scores are an indication that U-Verse is pleasing its audience, said Frank Perazzini, director of elecommunications at JD Power and Associates.

"I think this shows they are doing a good job of servicing the customer behind what is a lengthy installation process," Perazzini said.

The JD Power TV rankings reversed the trend of the JD Power residential telephone customer satisfaction rankings, released in mid-September. In those surveys, consumers ranked the telephone service offered by cable companies Cox, BrightHouse Networks and WideOpenWest above that of AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, CenturyTel and other traditional telephone companies.

“I think this shows that what these companies have been able to do is be more innovative in an add-on product than they are in their core product,” Perazzini said. “The technology is different and in some instances, more innovative. And they have been able to marry that technology with some pretty aggressive offers in order to try to build a customer base.”

WideOpenWest/WOW!, which got its start as an independent cable provider, was the best overall performer in both surveys, topping the NorthCentral region in both the telephone and television rankings. WOW! serves communities in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

Comcast and Time Warner Cable didn't do particularly well in either survey, finishing below the regional averages.

"If I were Comcast, I wouldn't necessarily be alarmed by this," Perazzini said. "I would be a little concerned. They have made slow and steady progress over the last few years across the board in video, phone and ISP. When you are that large, it takes a long time to get everybody on the same page. Plus they've had a lot of acquisitions over the past five years. Creating that corporate culture across all of those acquisitions so that you can move all of these three products as a bundle takes time."

The good news of this year’s rankings is that overall consumer satisfaction with residential TV service is up while the bad news is that this improvement in satisfaction isn’t being rewarded by greater customer loyalty. Overall satisfaction averaged 632 on a 1000-point scale, up 23 points from the 2008 score. But customer loyalty declined to 25% from 27% in 2008.

“Consumers love the fact that they have choices," Perazzini said. "They love the fact that competitors are pushing each other to deliver new and innovative products and better service. They love the fact that pricing is aggressive. So while they may be happy with their current provider, they are also willing to look elsewhere.”

The study measures customer satisfaction with cable, satellite and IPTV providers in four regions (East, North Central, West and South) based on five factors: performance and reliability; customer service; cost of service; billing; and offerings and promotions.

The economy may have accounted for another trend – a 3% decline in the purchase of premium channels and a 2% decline in the use of video-on-demand and pay-per-view. The only advanced offering that saw increased usage was Digital Video Recorder service, which rose 22% to 40% overall.

“Consumers are cutting back across the board - they are eating out less, buying fewer things at the mall -- and premium TV services are no different," Perazzini said.

In the East, Verizon topped the list with a 714 (out of 1000), followed by DirecTV (684), DISH Networks (669), Cablevisions iO TV (649) and Cox Communications (644). The below-average players were Time-Warner Cable, RCN, Comcast and Charter.

In the South, AT&T was on top with 718, followed by Verizon (702) , DirecTV (685), BrightHouse (674), Insight TV (658), DISH (654) and Cox (641). The under-average performers were CableOne, SuddenLink, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Charter and Mediacom.

In the North Central region, WOW! was on top at 724, followed by AT&T (715), Verizon (712), DirecTV ( 674), Insight (672), Cox (652) and DISH (650). Those below average were Bright House, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Charter and Mediacom.

And in the West, AT&T was on top with 721, followed by Verizon (682), DirecTV and DISH (both at 664), Cox (646), CableOne (635). Below the regional average were Time Warner Cable, Comcast, MediaOne and Charter.