Advanced Television

US Cable will lose unhappy subs

October 24, 2008

US cable TV could see a mass migration away from its services, according to a report by Parks Associates., if providers do not improve their consistently low satisfaction ratings among subscribers.

The report reveals that subscribers to satellite television and telco/IPTV are significantly more likely to be satisfied with their services than both basic and digital cable subscribers. These market conditions leave cable carriers vulnerable to subscriber churn, and the survey recommends they quickly enhance advanced services like video-on-demand to reverse this trend.

"Cable subscribers are generally less satisfied, which creates opportunities for satellite and telco/IPTV providers to grab customers," said Kurt Scherf, vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates. "Although cable operators have improved service efforts, cable operators will still haemorrhage subscribers unless they are perceived as offering leading-edge features at equal or better value. In today's economic climate, carriers cannot afford to ignore these findings."

Categories: Broadband, Cable, Research Library