Unless they improve their services, cable TV providers likely will lose significant numbers of customers to satellite TV and IPTV (News - Alert). That’s the conclusion reached by Parks Associates in a recent report, “TV 2.0: The Consumer Perspective.”

 

The report suggested that subscribers to satellite television and telco/IPTV services are significantly more likely to be satisfied with their services than either basic or digital cable subscribers.

 

A quick fix on the part of cable TV providers would be to improve or introduce new services such as video on demand (VoD), Parks Associates suggested.

 

The report maintains that when customers are unsatisfied they naturally tend to look for other services and satellite and telco/IPTV providers are planning targeting unsatisfied cable customers. Although cable operators have improved service efforts, these operators will still hemorrhage subscribers unless they are perceived as offering leading-edge features at equal or better value. In today's economic climate, carriers cannot afford to ignore these findings.

 

“Subscribers who actively use primetime VoD services show significantly higher satisfaction levels,” said Parks Associates analyst Kurt Scherf, in a statement. “VoD initiatives, particularly those aimed at delivering a ‘Primetime, Anytime’ experience are potential ARPU [average revenue per user] generators and trigger churn toward the provider, a reversal of current market trends.”

 

The report also indicated that customers would prefer to watch TV shows by downloading them using the Internet, but that this experience is not yet easy enough for widespread adoption. Parks Associates conducted a survey revealing that 0.6 percent of  respondents don't pay for TV service but are watching or downloading TV shows over the Internet.

 

The number of people watching TV shows online is still small; some estimates put the number at just one percent of the total television audience. In part, that's because watching online isn't as easy as channel surfing on the couch, TV remote in hand. Viewers must either watch shows on their personal computers, or use a device like Apple (News - Alert) TV, which allows them to download shows from the Internet onto their television sets.