• Home
  • News
  • Fortune 500
  • Tech
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Comcast

The Cable TV Industry Is Getting Even Less Popular

By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 25, 2017, 10:58 AM ET

It seems nobody loves their cable TV or home Internet provider. Wireless carriers, however, are on the upswing.

That’s the news from the huge annual survey of 43 industries from the American Customer Satisfaction Index. In 2017, cable operators and ISP tied for last place, with an average customer satisfaction rating of just 64%. The wireless industry was still near the bottom of the rankings, in 38th place, just below the U.S. postal system. But its 73% score was up almost three percentage points from last year.

Many of the same companies, like Comcast and Verizon, dominate both fields, ACSI noted. And neither industry offers much choice to consumers, with most localities having only one or two cable and Internet providers. The cable industry’s rating slipped 1.5 percentage points from last year, while the rating for ISPs was unchanged.

“Customer service remains abysmal, and viewers are continuing to switch over to streaming services with much higher customer satisfaction,” Claes Fornell, ACSI Chairman, said in a statement accompanying the results. “More than half a million subscribers defected from cable and satellite providers during the first quarter—the largest loss in history.”

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Nearly at the bottom of the bottom-ranked industry was Comcast, whose Xfinity cable TV brand earned a satisfaction rating of 58%, down six percentage points from last year and worse than every other brand except Mediacom, which scored just 56%. The decline came despite Comcast (CMCSA) CEO Brian Roberts’ efforts to fix customer service problems with a $300 million improvement plan started in 2015. Verizon’s FiOS TV service was top-ranked in the industry at 71%.

Internet service providers have hurt their reputations by raising prices and offering slow or unreliable service in some parts of the country, ACSI said. Verizon’s FiOS service was top-ranked in the sector, but its 71% rating was down from 73% last year. Frontier (FTR) brought up the rear with a rating of 57%, down from 59% in 2016.

In the wireless industry, prepaid service TracFone Wireless had the highest rating of any carrier at 79%. The largest carriers were closely clustered, with Verizon (VZ) at a 74% rating, Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS) tied at 73%, and AT&T (T) rated 72%.

The top-ranked industries in this year’s survey were makers of television and video players at 87%, and soft drink makers at 84%. Breweries, food manufacturers, Internet retailers, and makers of personal care and cleaning products all tied at 83%. The index surveyed 36,194 randomly chosen consumers over the past year.

About the Author
By Aaron Pressman
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in

AIMeta
It’s ‘kind of jarring’: AI labs like Meta, Deepseek, and Xai earned some of the worst grades possible on an existential safety index
By Patrick Kulp and Tech BrewDecember 5, 2025
5 hours ago
RetailConsumer Spending
U.S. consumers are so financially strained they put more than $1 billion on buy-now, pay later services during Black Friday and Cyber Monday
By Jeena Sharma and Retail BrewDecember 5, 2025
6 hours ago
Elon Musk
Big TechSpaceX
Musk’s SpaceX discusses record valuation, IPO as soon as 2026
By Edward Ludlow, Loren Grush, Lizette Chapman, Eric Johnson and BloombergDecember 5, 2025
6 hours ago
data center
EnvironmentData centers
The rise of AI reasoning models comes with a big energy tradeoff
By Rachel Metz, Dina Bass and BloombergDecember 5, 2025
6 hours ago
netflix
Arts & EntertainmentAntitrust
Hollywood writers say Warner takeover ‘must be blocked’
By Thomas Buckley and BloombergDecember 5, 2025
6 hours ago
Personal FinanceLoans
5 ways to use a home equity line of credit (HELOC)
By Joseph HostetlerDecember 5, 2025
6 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
Two months into the new fiscal year and the U.S. government is already spending more than $10 billion a week servicing national debt
By Eleanor PringleDecember 4, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
‘Godfather of AI’ says Bill Gates and Elon Musk are right about the future of work—but he predicts mass unemployment is on its way
By Preston ForeDecember 4, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Nearly 4 million new manufacturing jobs are coming to America as boomers retire—but it's the one trade job Gen Z doesn't want
By Emma BurleighDecember 4, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admits he works 7 days a week, including holidays, in a constant 'state of anxiety' out of fear of going bankrupt
By Jessica CoacciDecember 4, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Real Estate
‘There is no Mamdani effect’: Manhattan luxury home sales surge after mayoral election, undercutting predictions of doom and escape to Florida
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 4, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Tariffs and the $38 trillion national debt: Kevin Hassett sees ’big reductions’ in deficit while Scott Bessent sees a ‘shrinking ice cube’
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 4, 2025
1 day ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.