Over two-thirds of American pay television subscribers would be willing to switch providers if offered a price discount of 20%, according to a report just published by Strategy Analytics. While Cable customers were the most likely to churn, only half as many (33%) of Telco TV/IPTV subscribers would jump ship. The report, “Digital TV Customer Satisfaction: US Survey Results 2H’09,” surveys 856 digital pay television subscribers in the US.
Overall, respondents reported high satisfaction with their current digital television provider, with 71% claiming to be “somewhat” or “very” satisfied. There was a marked difference, however, among access platforms. Telco/IPTV customers reported 95% overall satisfaction, compared to 78% for Satellite, and 67% for Cable. Fewer than 22% of subscribers-”irrespective of platform-”felt they were getting “value for money” that exceeded expectations.
“The value-for-money result was perhaps the most important finding of this study,” noted Ben Piper, Director of the Strategy Analytics Multiplay Market Dynamics service. “It underscores a trend we have been seeing for the past 18 months: a growing number of customers are beginning to question the value of a “traditional” pay TV subscription in light of expanded “over-the-top” offerings, such as Hulu and Netflix.”
While Telco TV/ IPTV is expected to make impressive strides in the upcoming years, the platform’s success is certainly not a foregone conclusion, according to Piper. In a highly penetrated market such as the United States, growth will not be organic. Rather, Telcos will need to articulate a compelling case for users to switch.
