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JD Power Claims Cord Cutters The 'Least Satisfied' TV Viewers

A new survey by JD Power and Associates claims that cord cutters are less satisfied consumers than those that bundle streaming services with traditional cable. JD Power's study measured customer satisfaction on six key video points: performance and reliability; content; cost of service; ease of use; communication; and customer service. Scores for each measure are reflected in an index based on a 1,000-point scale.

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When the tallies were in, JD Power found that overall satisfaction is lowest among cord cutters (802), followed closely by cord nevers (807), while satisfaction is highest among cord stackers (826) and cord shavers (822).

That those paying for both streaming and traditional TV are more satisfied shouldn't be all that surprising, given they're paying significantly more money for a significantly larger volume of overall content. By keeping their cable connection they're also able to watch live sports, one of the biggest things preventing many users from cutting the cord and likely the biggest reason for the satisfaction spike.

There's also the little fact that many broadcasters and cable companies intentionally and consistently go out of their way to make watching video content without cable cumbersome and annoying, when they aren't busy trying to curtail streaming operators by restricting content licensing or implementing usage caps, concepts the study doesn't even begin to address.

Still the report has a number of interesting embedded factoids, such as the fact that 60% of streaming customers are "cord stackers" (subscribe to traditional cable and streaming services), 23% are cord shavers (those that keep cable but pare down their options to save costs), 13% are cord cutters (just streaming, not traditional TV) and 4% are "cord nevers" (having never subscribed to traditional cable and only signing up for streaming).

"The streaming video customer experience appears to be stratifying across the different subscriber segments, with pay TV service still having a major effect on the overall streaming video experience," says the firm. "Part of the reason is demographics. Customers who only stream are younger than those who also have TV. Nearly two-fifths (37%) of customers who only stream are 18-34 years old, compared with 30% of those who also have TV. Notably, 52% of cord nevers are 18-34."

Many cable industry executives I've spoken to honestly believe that cord cutting is just a phase, and many of these Millennials will sign up for cable when they settle down and have kids. However, that seems like an overly optimistic prognostication, one usually not supported by actual Millennials.

Most recommended from 55 comments



ctaranto
join:2011-12-14
MA

21 recommendations

ctaranto

Member

Holy cow..

I am in the complete opposite opinion. I've been a cord cutter since 2014. Yes, I'm technically savvy and set up a pretty neat system, including an attic mounted antenna, coax to an HDHomeRun, a feed into MythTV, and nVidia Sheilds running Kodi front ends.
1. Performance and Reliability: More reliable than Dish, DirecTV, Comcast, and Verizon. Yes, I had them all.
2. Content: Less than cable obviously, but I really miss nothing. Have full DVR functionality and virtually infinite storage compared to Cable/Sat.
3. Cost of service: $25/year for Schedules Direct guide feed
4. Ease of use: Kodi front end is far better than any of the 4 providers above and provides full access on TVs, computers, tablets, and phones. For free.
5. Communication: Not really sure what this measures
6. Customer Service: Really? Cable/Sat have notoriously bad customer service. Just by cancelling, this metric went through the roof.

We are giddy with our setup and paying virtually nothing for TV.
adam1991
join:2012-06-16
united state

17 recommendations

adam1991

Member

The bias is obvious here

"Among those who like cable TV, those who quit cable TV are the least satisfied."

Good God. What's next? "Among those who enjoy steak, those who eat nothing but McDonald's are the least satisfied. Those who eat nothing but Ruth's Chris are the most satisfied."

Edge1
But these go to 11.
Premium Member
join:2006-03-01
USA

10 recommendations

Edge1

Premium Member

Guess I'm in the minority

Cut the cord in 2011 and my wallet and I are quite satisfied. I actually watch more TV now than I ever have (yeah, that's probably not a good thing).

Anoncf5ee
@comcast.net

8 recommendations

Anoncf5ee

Anon

So?

We're generally less than satisfied with "TV" to begin with.
jdofaz
join:2013-04-15
Phoenix, AZ

7 recommendations

jdofaz

Member

Broadcast tv

I’m never quite sure from these type of surveys how they account for free broadcast tv. Do they consider someone who drops pay tv and goes OTA only a cord cutter? Or do “cord cutters” have to be people who go streaming only? What if I have Netflix and an antenna, is that a cord stack or a cord cut?

The name is almost a joke anyway since most cord cutters are streaming via the cord they supposedly cut.

More to the topic of the article, as someone who isn’t interested in sports at all, a basic cable package offers very little and certainly isn’t worth the asking price.

TIGERON
join:2008-03-11
Boston, MA
Motorola MG7550

5 recommendations

TIGERON

Member

Paid corporatism

This is paid corporate shills by cable and broadcasting companies spreading misinformation to those that are undecided.

As a cord cutter since March 2015, I am VERY satisfied for two reasons :

1. Cheaper bill :
$1000 a year having Netflix, Amazon Prime, HULU, Sling TV, HBO Now, and Showtime versus $1800 a year for cable TV provided by Comcast.

2. I am in control and I get to decide what I want to see.

techfury90
join:2015-03-03
Carrboro, NC
ARRIS SB6183
Linksys WRT1900AC

4 recommendations

techfury90

Member

Millennials having kids?

Oh please. The other flaw with their assumption that millennials having kids will fix cable's revenue decline? Millennials aren't exactly in a rush to have kids. Most of them can't afford them, and quite a few millennial women I've met do not want children under any circumstances.
boredsysadm
join:2012-01-11

3 recommendations

boredsysadm

Member

Unwashed masses???

Well, I'm seasoned IT pro and I cut the cord awhile ago, but that's not the point. Recently I've met with Craigslist seller who is manufacturing production manager - technically still a blue collar guy and we had to chance to talk for a bit. He knew all about Kodi and some of more interesting content plugins available on the net for it.
My point is - It's not just Netflix/Amazon prime anymore - non tech people find other stuff just as well.

Selenia
Gentoo Convert
Premium Member
join:2006-09-22
Fort Smith, AR

2 recommendations

Selenia

Premium Member

Wow...

2 whole percentage points which is statistically insignificant. Way to grasp at straws, JD power! The significant part is the fact the survey includes the unwashed masses who are not technically inclined, thus would most likely only utilize what is shoved right in their face. I forget the last time I voluntarily watched cable. Tech savvy people typically have much more flexible and powerful setups than anything cable provides. Watching OTA news in the kitchen on my tablet while making dinner? Check! Time delay that feed to strip commercials? Double check! Feed it to my phone at work? Checkmate cable! Not to mention everything on demand that can be brought up by speaking into my cell phone and can be fully controlled by any PC/Tablet/Phone in the house with a nice interface. Oh and it all uses less electricity than plugging cable boxes into the TV. I think the server that facilitates this only draws 20W or so, which is the hungriest component. Not to mention all the content I can scrape on demand off the web.

OldschoolDSL
Premium Member
join:2006-02-23
Indian Orchard, MA

2 recommendations

OldschoolDSL

Premium Member

Millennials

Someone should tell the author that 1st Generation Millennials are well in their 30's already and have kids... It's not a phase.
decifal7
join:2007-03-10
Bon Aqua, TN

2 recommendations

decifal7

Member

who

JD Power... Who gives a crap what they say nor think.. Its all paid for awards anyways.. Aka, puppets
grabacon9
join:2013-08-21
Newark, OH

2 recommendations

grabacon9

Member

The same company that said At&t has the best customer service

They must be paid for the award and/or stupid lol.
XJakeX
join:2005-03-05
Coventry, RI

2 recommendations

XJakeX

Member

how are cord cutters actually defined by JD Power

The press release from JD Power about this survey defines cord cutters as "those who have recently canceled TV service". What exactly do they mean by "recently" in that regard. Recent to me would mean maybe within 3-6 months. I cut in 2009. Would I not fall into their definition?

If I had just recently cut the cord perhaps I would still feel so dissatisfied with what I just left it might color my survey answers

Also an important missing piece of information is Who Paid For This Survey?