DIRECTV Tops for Would-Be TV Service Switchers... Really?

Seeking Alpha has an article titled, Who's Winning the Cable Service Provider Wars? that discusses a recent ChangeWave survey.

 

While some of the results make perfect sense, other results may surprise you as they did me.

 

ChangeWave surveyed 2,830 respondents and found that price is now the key issue when consumers decide to switch TV service providers. Given the state of the economy, that's not too surprising. Apparently 48% of respondents who plan to switch their cable, satellite or fiber-optic TV provider in the next six months say price is the primary reason.

 

Slightly more surprising, but perhaps understandable is the fact that when asked how satisfied they were with their current TV service provider, respondents overwhelmingly gave fiber-optic TV services high marks.

 

According to the research, Verizon's FiOS service tops the list in terms of having the highest percentage of customers who say they are Very or Somewhat Satisfied with their provider. AT&T's U-Verse service is second. DIRECTV and DISH Network came in third and fourth respectively, followed by cable.

 

That surprises me. The part about cable being last. Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt?

 

But what really surprises me is that the survey results say that DIRECTV tops the list of providers that switchers plan to move to in the next 6 months. Following behind, Verizon's FiOS and AT&T's U-Verse services drew the same level of interest.

 

If it's based on price alone, then I would assume it's because DIRECTV offers the best deal. I know they have a basic package for ~$30/ month, but I didn't really research how it compares with other offerings from competitors, so I can't say what kind of value that brings to the table.

 

I had looked into switching to FiOS, but it was unavailable in my town as of now, and I assume that fiber is more reliable than satellite, and would offer higher bandwidth throughput.

 

AT&T's U-Verse must be doing some serious advertising, because of all the people in our office who have been tempted to switch, exactly none of them were satisfied with the experience, be it for lack of bandwidth to support multiple HD streams, or simply a lack of availability. (Don't service providers generally know whose house they can reach before they send a truck?)

 

For what it's worth, I am satisfied with my cable provider (Cablevision) and with the variety of programming that's available. Sure the price could be lower, but the service works, and it's reliable. The HD is satisfactory, and they just started offering a WiFi service in the area (Optimum WiFi - see Rich's blog for his take on this enticement). And yes I subscribe to a three-service bundle, (with excellent Internet and very good phone service) which helps my overall perception.

 

And I should mention I live in a hilly area, with lots of trees and frequent cloud cover, and I don't see many dishes in our neighborhood, so I'm not sure if that affects my perception of satellite-based television service, but I'm just a bit surprised that DIRECTV was tops on the list for people who were planning to switch.