Even though US pay-TV customers are growing increasingly satisfied with over-the-top streaming TV services compared with traditional cable TV offerings, they also are spending nearly an hour more a week watching regularly scheduled programming than they did two years ago, says analyst JD Power.The study found that customer satisfaction with the overall streaming video service experience rated 7.91 on a 10-point scale and performance and reliability scored 7.97 out of 10, a slight improvement year-on-year. Conversely, overall satisfaction with traditional pay-TV services has fallen in 2017 from 724 on a 1,000-point scale year to 710.
Significantly, the research also found that destination TV viewing has reached a three-year high. Despite growing satisfaction with streaming video services and widespread use of DVR and video on-demand, JD Power discovered that the number of hours spent watching regularly scheduled television programmes has increased by nearly an hour between 2015 and 2017. In a typical week, households have spent an average of 17.4 hours watching regularly schedule programming this year, up from 16.6 in 2015. Reinforcing this trend, the survey also found that the percentage of customers planning to cut the cord on pay-TV during the next 12 months has declined to 8% from 9% in 2016.
“Although it seems like the world is consumed with the idea of cord-cutting in the wake of Hulu’s first Emmy and the proliferation of new shows on Netflix and Amazon, the number of current pay-TV customers who plan to cut the cord has actually declined, and the number of hours spent watching old-fashioned, time-slot television is growing,” said Peter Cunningham, technology, media and telecommunications practice lead at JD Power. “We’re seeing a trend toward the co-existence of traditional and alternative service providers, with each offering some lessons to the other on how best to drive an increase in customer satisfaction.”
Of these alternative channels, mobile figures highly yet the JD Power survey highlighted that nearly two-thirds (65%) of pay-TV customers never watch content from their provider via mobile app, and only 6% say they watch via mobile on a daily basis. However, overall satisfaction with pay-TV providers increases as the frequency that customers use a mobile app to watch their provider’s content increases.
Significantly, the research also found that destination TV viewing has reached a three-year high. Despite growing satisfaction with streaming video services and widespread use of DVR and video on-demand, JD Power discovered that the number of hours spent watching regularly scheduled television programmes has increased by nearly an hour between 2015 and 2017. In a typical week, households have spent an average of 17.4 hours watching regularly schedule programming this year, up from 16.6 in 2015. Reinforcing this trend, the survey also found that the percentage of customers planning to cut the cord on pay-TV during the next 12 months has declined to 8% from 9% in 2016.
“Although it seems like the world is consumed with the idea of cord-cutting in the wake of Hulu’s first Emmy and the proliferation of new shows on Netflix and Amazon, the number of current pay-TV customers who plan to cut the cord has actually declined, and the number of hours spent watching old-fashioned, time-slot television is growing,” said Peter Cunningham, technology, media and telecommunications practice lead at JD Power. “We’re seeing a trend toward the co-existence of traditional and alternative service providers, with each offering some lessons to the other on how best to drive an increase in customer satisfaction.”
Of these alternative channels, mobile figures highly yet the JD Power survey highlighted that nearly two-thirds (65%) of pay-TV customers never watch content from their provider via mobile app, and only 6% say they watch via mobile on a daily basis. However, overall satisfaction with pay-TV providers increases as the frequency that customers use a mobile app to watch their provider’s content increases.
