w J.D. Power Reports: Growth in the Accessibility of TV/Video Content and Personal Video Recorder Use Adds Value to Standard Services and Increases Customer Satisfaction SaskTel and Vidéotron Rank Highest in Both Television and Internet Customer Satisfaction for a Second Consecutive Year in the West and East Regions, Respectively TORONTO.: 26 June 2014 The growth of TV/video accessibility and personal video recorder (PVR) use marks a change in household consumption behaviors and greater satisfaction, according to the J.D. Power 2014 Canadian Television Provider and the J.D. Power 2014 Canadian Internet Service Provider Customer Satisfaction Study, SM both released today. Satisfaction among television customers in Canada is 685 (on a 1,000-point scale), increasing from 675 in 2013, while satisfaction among Internet customers is 672, an improvement from 668 in 2013. Customers are increasingly looking for flexibility in how they use their services; today, this means connecting to TV or video on tablets and smartphones, in addition to traditional access, said Adrian Chung, account director at J.D. Power. The ability to access content anywhere, anytime via multiple devices and locations represents a perceived value-add to new and existing subscriptions, which positively impacts both the customer experience and loyalty toward service providers. The Canadian Television Provider Customer Satisfaction Study measures overall satisfaction with television service providers based on six factors (in order of importance): performance and reliability; cost of service; programming; communication; billing; and customer service. The Canadian Internet Service Provider Customer Satisfaction Study is based on five factors (in order of importance): performance and reliability; cost of service; communication; billing; and customer service. KEY FINDINGS In 2014, 45 percent of television service customers in Canada watch TV programming on additional devices, such as laptops, tablets and smartphones, compared with 42 percent in 2013. Providing access to content on customers preferred devices translates into higher satisfaction with cost of service, which is 30 points higher among those watching TV programming on alternative devices than among those watching on TVs. Satisfaction is higher across all factors among TV customers with PVRs enabling multi-room viewing than among those without similar PVRs. Satisfaction among those using multi-room PVRs is 16 points higher than among those using single-room PVRs (714 vs. 698, respectively), reinforcing the perceived value that customers associate with access to content anytime, anywhere. PVR customers spend on average $15 more per month on their TV bill than those who do not have a PVR. Satisfaction impacts the rate of recommendations. Customers with a multi-room PVR are 5 percentage points more likely to say they definitely will recommend their television service provider than are those with a single-room PVR unit (24% vs. 19%, respectively). (Page 1 of 2)
Among the 38 percent of customers in Canada who have a PVR, 25 percent have a multi-room unit, an increase from 21 percent in 2013. In comparison, among the 46 percent of customers in the United States who have a PVR, 38 percent have a multi-room PVR. When comparing viewing methods, U.S. customers more often view video content on tablets than do Canadian customers (21% vs. 16%, respectively), while viewing on laptops and desktops is more common in Canada than in the United States (35% vs. 31%, respectively). More than one-half (51%) of TV customers contact their service provider for customer service, compared with 36 percent of Internet customers. Among TV customers who contact customer service, 33 percent are unable to resolve their issue on the first call, compared with 36 percent among ISP customers. The most common reasons for TV customer service contacts are to report an outage (15%); equipment issues (15%); and poor/bad reception (11%). The most common reasons for ISP customer service contacts are problems/issues with cable modem/internet access (29%) and to report an outage (16%). Study Rankings East Region Vidéotron ranks highest in both television and Internet customer satisfaction in the East region. Vidéotron s overall score in television customer satisfaction is 757, followed by Shaw with a score of 703 and Cogeco with 698. In Internet service customer satisfaction, Vidéotron ranks highest with a score of 757, followed by Cogeco with 695. West Region SaskTel ranks highest in both television and Internet service customer satisfaction in the West region. SaskTel achieves an overall score of 720 among television customers, followed by MTS with a score of 698 and TELUS with 688. In Internet customer satisfaction, SaskTel ranks highest with a score of 690, followed by TELUS with 667. The 2014 Canadian Television Provider Customer Satisfaction Study and the 2014 Canadian Internet Service Provider Customer Satisfaction Study are based on responses from more than 2,600 TV customers in the West region and more than 5,000 TV customers in the East region; and more than 3,000 Internet customers in the West region and more than 4,800 in the East region. Both studies were fielded in October 2013 and April 2014. J.D. Power Media Relations Contacts Beth Daniher, Cohn & Wolfe, Toronto, Canada; 647-259-3279, beth.daniher@cohnwolfe.ca Gal Wilder, Cohn & Wolfe, Toronto, Canada; 647-259-3261, gal.wilder@cohnwolfe.ca Syvetril Perryman; Westlake Village, Calif.; 805-418-8103; media.relations@jdpa.com About J.D. Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules www.jdpower.com/about-us/press-release-info About McGraw Hill Financial www.mhfi.com (Page 2 of 2) ### Note: Four charts follow.
2014 Canadian Television Provider East Region Television Customer Satisfaction Index Ranking 500 550 600 650 700 750 for consumers: Vidéotron 757 Shaw 703 Cogeco 698 Bell Aliant 692 East Region Average 689 Bell 666 Rogers 643 Source: J.D. Power 2014 Canadian Television Provider
2014 Canadian Television Provider West Region Television Customer Satisfaction Index Ranking 500 550 600 650 700 750 for consumers: SaskTel 720 MTS 698 TELUS 688 Bell 679 West Region Average 676 Shaw 667 Source: J.D. Power 2014 Canadian Television Provider
2014 Canadian Internet Service Provider East Region Internet Customer Satisfaction Index Ranking 550 600 650 700 750 800 for consumers: Vidéotron 757 Cogeco 695 East Region Average 678 Bell Aliant 667 Bell 658 Rogers 637 Source: J.D. Power 2014 Canadian Internet Service Provider
2014 Canadian Internet Service Provider West Region Internet Customer Satisfaction Index Ranking 500 550 600 650 700 750 for consumers: SaskTel 690 TELUS 667 West Region Average 661 Shaw 654 MTS 650 Source: J.D. Power 2014 Canadian Internet Service Provider