Survey: Customers rank pay-TV services below par

Customer satisfaction with pay-TV dropped nearly 2 percent in the first quarter of the year, even as overall satisfaction edged upward, says a University of Michigan study.

The quarterly American Customer Satisfaction Index showed pay-TV scored a 63 on a 100-point scale, behind customer satisfaction with fixed-line phone service, wireless carriers, airlines, hotels and energy utilities. Overall customer satisfaction improved 0.4 percent and scored 76 out of 100, its second straight quarterly uptick.

Cable and satellite services have routinely scored in the low 60s on the survey, said UM business professor Claes Fornell.

Cox Communications was the top-ranked service, coming in at 66, a 5 percent improvement from a year ago. It's the sixth year in a row Cox took top honors in its category. Charter Communications, meanwhile, scored an abysmal 51, the lowest score for any company tracked by the ASCI since its inception in 1994.

For more:
- see this Multichannel News story

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