A “chasm” is growing between live streaming services and cable and satellite providers when it comes to customer loyalty, according to J.D. Power’s Technology, Media, and Telecom Intelligence Report.
Live TV streaming customers are only 12% likely to swap services in the next year. The odds of cable and satellite customers changing providers, however, is nearly double at 21%.
The data illustrates the trend of cord cutting seen over the last few years, with viewers abandoning traditional cable providers in favor of streaming services. Historically, streamers are cheaper, more flexible, alternatives to cable. For example, the cost for live TV streaming averages $69 a month while cable and satellite average $113 a month.
The data analytics company found that multiple factors are contributing to the divide between the two types of providers.
On a 1,000 point scale, live TV streaming services outperformed cable and satellite in cost of service (156 points), customer care (80 points), performance and reliability (64 points), and billing and payments (60 points).
In September, J.D. Power found that YouTube TV was the service with the happiest customers. Hulu + Live TV came in second place. Cable companies, meanwhile, are ranked notoriously low when it comes to customer satisfaction.
In its report, J.D. Power said that cable and satellite providers benefited from their status as a “legacy model” and the difficulty customers faced when trying to cancel or switch. This is no longer the case as customers now have more options available to them.
Cable and satellite providers must “step up their game and rise to the occasion, according to the data analytics company.
““[T]hese providers can no longer rest on their laurels,” the report said. “They run the very real risk of fading into the background faster than anyone anticipated.”