Cable TV Subscribers Aren’t Too Fond Of Their Service Providers

News just keeps getting worse for cable and pay-tv providers. The most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) found consumers are more displeased than ever with their cable providers and their respective services.

According to the Index, subscription television services tied with internet service providers with an average score of 63 out of 100, based on feedback from about 14,000 surveyed customers in Q1 of 2015. This score of 63 was the worst given out of all 43 industries included in the ACSI. When subscription TV and internet providers were bundled with other information services like computer software and wireless or fixed phone line providers, the ACSI found customers gave these companies a 68.8 score, the lowest level among these categories in the last seven years.

The most notable drop in customer satisfaction came from cable TV and internet providers Comcast and Time Warner (who proposed a merger deal in 2014 but eventually called it off in April 2015). Comcast, which ACSI noted is already one of the lowest-rated providers, dropped its score 10% to 54 out of 100. Time Warner earned “the distinction as least-satisfying company in the Index” with a 9%

drop, to hit a low score of 51.

“There was a time when pay TV could get away with discontented users without being penalized by revenue losses from defecting customers, but those days are over,” ACSI Chairman Claes Fornell said in a release. “Today people have more alternatives than ever before. Consumer abandonment of pay TV is shaking up the industry and lower satisfaction could mean even more cord cutting by subscribers ahead.”

ACSI attributes these overall drops in customer satisfaction scores to providers’ poor customer service, low-quality services/broadband, rising prices, lack of available options, and required contract terms. “Customers resent being locked into service contracts, and are not happy with what they see as unreliable service, slow broadband Internet speeds, and rising subscription prices,” the Index noted.

You can read more of the ACSI data and findings via the official press release on the ACSI site.