AT&T U-verse, Verizon FiOS and WOW! Lead Regional Customer Satisfaction Rankings Among Television Service Providers

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Customer satisfaction with television service providers has increased considerably from 2008 as a result of improvements in outages and problem resolution, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 U.S. Residential Television Service Satisfaction Study(SM) released today.

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Overall satisfaction averages 632 on a 1,000-point scale--an increase of 23 points from 609 in 2008, which marked the lowest industry average during the past five years.

"In the wake of receding satisfaction scores in 2008, improvements in product performance and the service surrounding it this year suggest that providers are eager to better position themselves to retain and grow their customer bases," said Frank Perazzini, director of telecommunications at J.D. Power and Associates. "For instance, average time on hold required to resolve a customer's most recent problem has declined 13 percent from 2008 to 9 minutes, 5 seconds this year. Additionally, fewer customers are experiencing outages, with 11 percent reporting an outage in 2009, compared with 15 percent in 2008."

The positive impact of these changes has also driven an improvement in intention to recommend television service providers. Among customers who receive programming from satellite providers, 78 percent say they "definitely will" or "probably will" recommend their provider to others, an increase of 6 percentage points from 2008. Sixty percent of cable customers say the same--an increase of 5 percentage points from 2008.

"Despite an improvement in recommendation rates, there isn't a corresponding increase in loyalty," said Perazzini. "In fact, the percentage of cable customers affirming their loyalty to their provider has declined to 25 percent in 2009 from 27 percent in 2008. Satellite providers have experienced a similar decline with a loyalty rate of 40 percent in 2009--a four-percentage-point drop from 2008. Given the current state of the economy, customers generally want to keep their options open, even if they are satisfied with their current provider. To increase loyalty, providers should continue to enhance the service improvements offered this year, and to remain competitive from a cost and offerings perspective."

The study measures customer satisfaction with cable, satellite and Internet protocol (IPTV) television providers in four regional segments: North Central, East, West and South. In each segment, five factors are measured to determine overall customer satisfaction: performance and reliability; customer service; cost of service; billing; and offerings and promotions.

For a second consecutive year, AT&T U-verse ranks highest in the West (with an index score of 721) and South (718) regions. In the East region, Verizon FiOS ranks highest for a second consecutive year with a score of 714, while WOW! ranks highest in the North Central Region (724).

The study also finds that the number of cable customers who subscribe to additional premium channels has declined to 29 percent in 2009 from 32 percent in 2008. The number of customers who utilize video-on-demand (VOD) and pay-per-view services has also moderately declined, as 33 percent report using VOD (compared with 35 percent in 2008) and 16 percent report using pay-per-view (compared with 18 percent in 2008).

"It appears the economy has had an impact on the use of additional video services in 2009," said Perazzini. "However, while there has been some belt-tightening regarding most additional services, DVR usage has risen 22 percentage points to 40 percent this year as more households utilize this tool to shift the view time for their preferred free programming."

The 2009 U.S. Residential Television Service Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 28,118 U.S. households that evaluated their cable, satellite or IPTV provider. The study was fielded in January, March and July 2009.

Customer Satisfaction Index Ranking

    East Region
    (Based on a 1,000-point scale)

                                              JDPower.com Power Circle Ratings
    Provider                     Index Score  For Consumers
    --------                     -----------  --------------------------------

    Verizon FiOS                      714                5

    DIRECTV                           684                4
    DISH Network                      669                4

    iO TV (Cablevision)               649                3
    Cox                               644                3
    East Region Major Provider
     Average                          635                3
    Time Warner Cable                 622                3

    RCN                               602                2
    Comcast                           597                2
    Charter                           566                2



    North Central Region
    (Based on a 1,000-point scale)

                                             JDPower.com Power Circle Ratings
    Provider                   Index Score   For Consumers
    --------                   -----------   --------------------------------

    WOW!                          724                    5
    AT&T U-verse                  715                    5
    Verizon FiOS                  712                    5

    DIRECTV                       674                    4
    Insight                       672                    4
    Cox                           652                    4
    DISH Network                  650                    4

    North Central Region Major
     Provider Average             625                    3
    Bright House Networks         618                    3
    Time Warner Cable             605                    3

    Comcast                       590                    2
    Charter                       573                    2
    Mediacom                      555                    2



    South Region
    (Based on a 1,000-point scale)

                                              JDPower.com Power Circle Ratings
    Provider                 Index Score      For Consumers
    --------                 -----------      --------------------------------

    AT&T U-verse                 718                       5

    Verizon FiOS                 702                       4
    DIRECTV                      685                       4
    Bright House Networks        674                       4
    Insight                      658                       4
    DISH Network                 654                       4

    Cox                          641                       3
    South Region Major
     Provider Average            635                       3
    Cable One                    632                       3
    Suddenlink                   632                       3
    Time Warner Cable            612                       3

    Comcast                      579                       2
    Charter                      573                       2
    Mediacom                     560                       2



    West Region
    (Based on a 1,000-point scale)

                                             JDPower.com Power Circle Ratings
    Provider                Index Score      For Consumers
    --------                -----------      --------------------------------

    AT&T U-verse                 718                       5

    Verizon FiOS                 702                       4
    DIRECTV                      685                       4
    Bright House Networks        674                       4
    Insight                      658                       4
    DISH Network                 654                       4

    Cox                          641                       3
    South Region Major
     Provider Average            635                       3
    Cable One                    632                       3
    Suddenlink                   632                       3
    Time Warner Cable            612                       3

    Comcast                      579                       2
    Charter                      573                       2
    Mediacom                     560                       2

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, Web intelligence and customer satisfaction. The company's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2008 were $6.4 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.

Media Relations Contacts:

Jeff Perlman; Brandware Public Relations; Agoura Hills, Calif.; (310) 589-7749; jperlman@brandwaregroup.com

John Tews; J.D. Power and Associates; Troy, Mich.; (248) 312-4119; john.tews@jdpa.com

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates. www.jdpower.com/corporate

SOURCE J.D. Power and Associates

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