Unsolved Mystery: U-verse TV Ranks No. 1 in Pay TV Customer Satisfaction for a Fourth Straight Year

By Daniel Frankel
( NextTV )
published

Somehow, the video platform abandoned by AT&T three years ago, then cast off to private equity increased its American Customer Satisfaction Index score by five full percentage points over last year

U-verse
(Image credit: AT&T)

To quote the great Vinnie Barbarino, "This is weid, Mr. Kotta."

The pay TV side of U-verse, abandoned as a service for sale to new customers by AT&T back in April 2020, then packaged in a spinoff to private equity, is beloved by a loyal core group of legacy customers.

At least that's the narrative put forth by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which has ranked U-verse TV No. 1 in the pay TV category for four straight years. 

Also read: How Screwed Up Is the U.S. Pay TV Biz? U-verse TV, Which AT&T Doesn’t Even Sell Anymore, Ranks No. 1 in Customer Satisfaction

The ACSI Telecommunications Study 2022-2023 is based on interviews with 22,061 telecom customers, chosen at random and contacted via email between April 2022 and March 2023.

According to the ACSI, based on factors including picture quality, range of channels and customer service, U-verse just keeps getting better, improving its overall score from 73 in 2022 to 78 in the most recent study. 

This is puzzling for numerous reasons. It's not like the spun off DirecTV is lovingly curating U-verse TV these days. To the contrary. The private-equity-backed spinoff wants to move away from launching TV satellites and AT&T's legacy in general, and put its dwindling customer base on DirecTV Stream.

We suspect anybody whose still paying a U-verse bill isn’t all that hard to please in a consumer survey. And the ACSI seems to agree with us. 

“Those that do remain tend to be more satisfied and loyal, which boosts customer satisfaction for the subscription TV industry overall," said says Forrest Morgeson, assistant professor of marketing at Michigan State University and director of research emeritus at the ACSI.

Verizon Fios TV — decidedly an afterthought itself within the bowels of its corporate parent — finished second, improving its overall score from 71 in 2022 to 74 this year. 

At the bottom were video offerings from cable companies Comcast, Cox Communications, Mediacom Communications, Charter Communications and Altice USA. 

(Image credit: ASCI)

Here’s another ACSI oddity — T-Mobile’s fixed wireless access service ranks No. 1 among nonfiber ISPs, but Verizon’s FWA product doesn’t even show up in the rankings. 

We suspect the ASCI didn’t break out Verizon's nascent FWA service from its other home wireline internet service. 

(Image credit: ASCI)

Finally, the most volatile area of measurement for the ASCI seems to be virtual MVPDs, where YouTube TV and DirecTV have recently slipped and Hulu Plus Live TV has ascended. 

(Image credit: ACSI)
Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!