In a poll conducted June 22-24 among 2,203 U.S. adults, 76 percent said they pay for either a cable or online streaming service, and 83 percent of those with such services said they are satisfied with their packages. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Broken down by key factors — cost, quality of content, amount of content and speed of content delivery — cable subscribers were satisfied with their packages on every metric except cost, where 53 percent said they were dissatisfied.
Streaming services had higher shares of satisfied respondents than cable services across the board -- but only by 10 points in most cases. The only secure advantage streaming services had over cable subscriptions? Cost, where 85 percent of those who pay for a streaming subscription say they’re satisfied.
The good news for cable is that shares of those satisfied with the cost of their cable services are closing in on streaming among those 18-29, where 63 percent report being satisfied with the price of their cable packages.
Amanda Lotz, a communication studies and screen arts and cultures professor at the University of Michigan, said the higher satisfaction rates for cable package costs among those ages 18-29 isn’t surprising, given that many cable services now offer streaming options. Lotz, who is also a Peabody Media Center fellow, typically doesn’t think of the two services as direct competition, with many cable networks offering their own online viewing options.
“The high satisfaction probably results from the fact that those who were really dissatisfied probably are among the cutters,” Lotz said in a June 27 email following a phone interview about why young adults seem to have higher approval of their cable package cost.
Securing a core group of dedicated, young cable subscribers who have high satisfaction with both cable’s content offerings and price point could provide a firm jumping-off point for AT&T as it settles into its new role in the media industry.
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