I’m coming to realize that satellite dishes are just a lot less evil than cable companies. Not that I have any legitimate beefs with Dish Network beyond not being able to get certain channels – Fox Sports World, GolTv, Telemundo – without subscribing to their largest packages.
The American Customre Satisfaction Index shows that Customer Satisfaction with the Cable Industry Remains Dismal
Consumer complaints are also much more common relative to any other measured industry. Almost half of all cable customers have registered complaints about one thing or another. When buyers have meaningful choice alternatives, this level of customer (dis)satisfaction is neither competitive nor sustainable. Cable is the only industry to score below 60 in ACSI. With the satellite companies removed, the weighted average for the cable industry is 59.
Your average cable customer at best is mildly annoyed
Under normal competitive conditions, there would be mass customer defections. The reason this is not the case for the cable industry is due to local monopoly power, which means that in most markets, the dissatisfied customer has nowhere to go.
Since most customers don’t have vable choices, the cable companies are free to ignore their complaints.
Nevertheless, the weak ACSI for the cable industry suggests that its customer base may well become vulnerable to new competition. Another factor is that technology is expensive and entry costs are high. Thus, it is difficult to create competitive markets with meaningful buyer choice.
If someone came up with a cheap and simple alternative to cable, they’d probably be ridiculously rich
Satellite television does better with customers, mainly because of lower price, in many instances half that of cable. Although the satellite companies donÂ’t offer the same array of services and are often limited in terms of local channel availability, the services they do offer are seen as having higher quality and a better value.
If you can get a sattelite dish signal, there’s no real reason not to have one instead of terrestrial cable.
From BroadBandReports