Streaming TV used to be touted as the cheaper alternative to massive cable bills. But as this year has shown, streaming services have been rising in cost even faster than cable and satellite TV, with the average American spending a whopping $69 per month on streamers. Sure, that’s a bit less than the average cable bill, but streaming costs are catching up fast.
Plenty of folks realize this and are choosing to stick with what they know: cable TV. That’s why we here at CableTV.com keep working hard to research traditional TV services and keep cable customers up to date on the best options for their budgets and needs.
But we know our opinions aren’t the only ones that count, so we also run our annual Customer Satisfaction Awards survey to gather extensive feedback from real cable subscribers.
For 2026, we asked 4,977 TV customers to rate their providers on overall satisfaction, pricing, features, and more. Despite all the headwinds streaming TV has faced with rising prices, channel disputes, and increased competition, this survey shows that consumers are still drawn in by new tech—when it’s affordable and offered by an established provider, that is.
In its first year in the survey, Spectrum’s new streaming product, TV® Stream, topped our list with the highest overall satisfaction rating (78%) and earned top marks on 12 of 20 survey questions.
Don’t count out cable and satellite TV, though. Long-standing telco providers like Xfinity and DIRECTV impressed me this year with solid showings pretty much across the board.
Keep reading to learn what makes these providers stand out, and how your own TV provider measured up this year.
Customer loyalty vs. new tech: TV trends for 2026
The current TV landscape feels like a battleground, with established fiber and cable providers battling for dominance against the increasing prevalence of live TV streamers.
In this section, I’ll dive into the data to see how consumer loyalty stacks up against the appeal of new technology and the promise of better value.
Streaming TV comes out on top, but cable providers still boast an impressive showing
If you happen to have been here before, you’d know that Verizon Fios TV typically dominates our yearly surveys. As in, “winner of 19-out-of-20 questions” type of domination.
That’s why Verizon not coming out on top this year honestly felt like the upset of the century, with Spectrum taking the cake in most (but not all) questions in this year’s survey.
But the winner isn’t Spectrum as you probably know it (aka Spectrum cable TV). This year, Spectrum’s new streaming TV offshoot TV Stream reigned supreme, taking top spot in 12-out-of-20 questions.
This may seem confusing, as we do have a separate customer satisfaction survey dedicated solely to live TV streaming services like YouTube TV and Fubo. But since Spectrum TV Stream is a new offshoot of a cable brand, it felt the most seamless to stick it in this survey alongside its Spectrum cable TV brethren (which also didn’t do too shabby this year, despite price increases).
Check out some of the highlights of Spectrum TV Stream’s winnings below:
Spectrum TV Streams wins out in key areas
- Overall satisfaction: 78%
- Customer experience: 80%
- Easy to work with: 86%
- Pricing: 72%
- Expectations met: 80%
- Would recommend service: 74%
Don’t sleep on smaller providers!
Returning participants may also notice the absence of a few regional providers that typically appear in our survey, namely Astound, Breezeline, Xtream by Mediacom, and Sparklight.
Those providers are still up and running, but didn’t have enough respondents to warrant inclusion in our survey results without a significant margin of error. The same goes for Xfinity’s new streaming product, Xfinity StreamSaver™.
I didn’t want to leave their data out of my analysis, however, so this section will give a quick TL;DR for folks who want to know how their fave smaller providers fared.
What is your overall satisfaction with your TV provider?
| Provider | Completely satisfied + very satisfied | Hardly satisfied + Not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Astound | 81% | 5% |
| Xfinity (StreamSaver) | 79% | 5% |
| Breezeline | 76% | 5% |
| Xtream by Mediacom | 69% | 14% |
| Sparklight | 56% | 12% |
These responses are a pretty good representation of how these providers performed on the rest of our survey. On nearly every survey question, Astound or Xfinity StreamSaver took a comfortable lead, with Breezeline hovering somewhere near the upper-middle.
Xtream and Sparklight, on the other hand, typically ranked in the bottom two, often even worse than this survey’s biggest losers (*COUGH* Optimum and *COUGH* DISH).
Astound’s astounding turnaround
If I were able to count Astound in our overall satisfaction results, it would beat this year’s winner, Spectrum TV Stream, by 3%. This is even more impressive considering that last year, Astound came in dead last on this same question!
So, why this huge jump? Why are Astound’s customers suddenly so much happier with their TV service?
Well, earlier this year, Astound finally fully consolidated its offerings—RCN, Grande, Wave, and enTouch—under one “Astound” name. Astound also expanded its fiber offerings and simplified its pricing structure during 2025. These product improvements are likely to have contributed to this year’s stellar satisfaction ratings.
Richard S. from Texas commented pretty succinctly how most Astound customers in our survey feel about the provider: “Reliable [and] friendly service, good selection, fair prices compared to others.”
Keep an eye out for Xfinity StreamSaver next year
Concerning Xfinity, I wasn’t surprised that its StreamSaver plans didn’t meet the respondent threshold. Streaming is a new offering for Xfinity (newer even than Spectrum TV Stream), and new products always take a while to catch on, especially for a provider as storied as Xfinity.
If StreamSaver had been included in this survey’s overall results, it would have won for highest satisfaction over our winner, Spectrum TV Stream. It also would’ve taken first place in an additional nine (!) survey questions, including streaming quality and customer experience, knocking newcomer TV Stream and perennial winner Verizon Fios off multiple top spots.
I won’t be surprised if Xfinity streaming easily coasts by the respondent threshold in next year’s survey. If this year’s stellar performance is any indication, it’ll likely seriously shake up the rankings if it does.
Satellite TV sees savior in DIRECTV, while DISH drops off
Satellite TV, like cable, has had a rough few years, with DIRECTV and DISH losing a collective 495,000 subscribers during just one quarter of 2024. Despite these declines, DIRECTV has had a significant turnaround in customer approval across the entire survey compared to last year.
DIRECTV’s streaming counterpart (which we refer to as Stream with DIRECTV for clarity, but has technically been consolidated with its satellite service as of April 2025) also had a great year in our live TV streaming survey.
This consolidation, although initially confusing for new consumers and tech journalists (like myself) alike, has seemed to really boost the brand’s value in the eyes of its customers.
Although I initially disliked this combining of services under the “DIRECTV” name, I came to appreciate the decision. For as long as I have been covering TV, DIRECTV’s satellite and streaming products have had the same plan names, yet offered inconsistent pricing and channel counts. This consolidation has made the names, prices, and channel offerings identical, whether you choose to get your DTV kicks via a satellite dish or streaming.
Making the transition from satellite TV to streaming as seamless as possible without compromising the quality of either product is difficult. Still, DIRECTV has impressed me—and its customers, it seems—this year.
DISH, on the other hand, is seriously lagging behind DIRECTV performance-wise, finishing in one of the two bottom spots in 70% of questions on this survey.
Although DISH technically owns Sling TV—a repeat middle-of-the-road performer in our live TV survey—this acquisition gives the DISH brand no brand recognition. Having DIRECTV’s satellite and streaming products together boosts both services, while Sling is relatively flourishing and DISH is flopping.
DISH needs to kickstart some new initiatives in 2026 if it wants to turn around its dismal 2025 performance and start competing with DIRECTV again.
Traditional TV’s uphill climb
I’m making this one short, since I pepper in my opinions on live TV streaming versus traditional TV across this whole survey. (Keep reading to find out the whole scoop.)
Again, if you’ve been here since last year, you’d notice that customer satisfaction ratings for traditional TV have continued to trend upwards year over year.
For example, last year, the three winners for overall satisfaction had approval ratings of 79%, 69%, and 68%, with only the top provider (Verizon Fios) cracking the 70% mark. This year, the top six spots in the same survey results were at 70% or higher.
My opinion from last year on why traditional TV providers keep increasing in approval has primarily stayed the same: increasing streaming fatigue thanks to price hikes and password sharing crackdowns.
But even when it seems traditional TV is getting better, I gotta knock ’em down a few pegs, as live TV streamers had an identical blanket approval increase. And as you can see, all seven top live TV streaming services beat Spectrum TV Stream’s winning overall satisfaction rating of 78%.
Live TV streaming services: Highest overall satisfaction
- Stream with DIRECTV: 87%
- Hulu + Live TV: 85%
- Sling TV: 85%
- Fubo: 84%
- YouTube TV: 83%
Check out this year’s Live TV Streaming Services Customer Satisfaction Survey to learn more.
Pro tip: Learn more about why people are ditching their streaming services in our recent streaming service cancellation survey.
Highest overall satisfaction
Customer satisfaction relies heavily on customer service. We asked survey respondents if their providers resolve issues quickly and effectively. Would they recommend their providers to other people? Do they get what they expect from their service?
What is your overall satisfaction with your cable TV provider?
Verizon Fios’ multi-year streak as this survey’s top performer has finally been broken.
Spectrum TV Stream entered the ring swinging, winning overall satisfaction with 78% approval. This is the first year that Spectrum’s cable and streaming products have been separated in our survey, and it’s clear from the results which one is the fan favorite.
This doesn’t come as a shock, as live TV streaming has higher overall satisfaction ratings than traditional TV. That makes it feel pretty inevitable that a streaming offshoot, even from a traditional telco provider, would come in and take top spot.
I feel compelled to mention that Verizon was only beaten out by one pesky percentage point. Even though Verizon didn’t win across the board like it did in years past, you’ll notice that it ranks in one of the top three spots in 16 out of 20 questions.
Xfinity repeats its performance from last year, coming in third place once again. Xfinity’s results this year are even more impressive than last year’s for two reasons.
One reason is that this year’s results are split between Xfinity’s cable service and its new live TV streaming products. And two, because Xfinity’s overall satisfaction rating is up seven whole points from last year’s.
Unfortunately, Xfinity’s streaming plans aren’t represented in this survey, as the total number of respondents came in below our 125-respondent floor.
However, since these services are split, that means Xfinity’s 76% third-place ranking is attributed solely to Xfinity cable customers. Xfinity cable TV performing only 2% worse than Spectrum streaming is seriously impressive and shouldn’t be overlooked.
What is your overall satisfaction with your TV provider?
| Provider | Completely satisfied + very satisfied | Hardly satisfied + Not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum TV Stream | 78% | 4% |
| Verizon Fios | 77% | 5% |
| Xfinity | 76% | 5% |
| Other | 74% | 7% |
| DIRECTV | 73% | 5% |
| DISH | 70% | 6% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 69% | 6% |
| Cox | 68% | 11% |
| Optimum | 64% | 11% |
How well did your TV provider services compare with the ideal cable service?
Yeah, I know, “ideal cable service” is a pretty abstract concept. But everybody has to have some idea about what would make a service provider ideal for them. Let’s see if customers feel like they’re getting what they expected.
- Spectrum TV Stream (79%)
- DIRECTV, Verizon Fios (73%)
- Xfinity (69%)
Spectrum TV Stream takes a significant lead in this question, with DIRECTV coming in second.
DIRECTV tying with Verizon Fios for second is pretty surprising, given Verizon’s four-point lead over the satellite provider in overall satisfaction. But, like I mentioned, DIRECTV has a solid showing across the whole survey.
DIRECTV performing as well as it did on this survey is a testament to its continued quality as a TV provider, even when satellite TV (which DIRECTV is) is often less reliable than cable TV, and, to a greater extent, streaming TV.
DISH is DIRECTV’s satellite rival with similar nationwide coverage and pricing. Still, it apparently just doesn’t have what DIRECTV has—DISH ranks in the bottom two on 14 of 20 questions in this survey. Ouch.
How well did your TV provider services compare with the ideal cable service?
| Provider | Extremely close + Very close | Hardly close + Not at all close |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum TV Stream | 79% | 3% |
| DIRECTV | 73% | 7% |
| Verizon Fios | 73% | 6% |
| Xfinity | 69% | 8% |
| Other | 69% | 8% |
| Cox | 67% | 10% |
| DISH | 64% | 10% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 60% | 11% |
| Optimum | 53% | 9% |
Hear from real DIRECTV customers
"Service has been good, and they usually are quick and helpful. We've had the service for a good 20 years, and it always has given me [the] entertainment I need."
Customer experience
Customer experience hinges on two things: user experience (UX) and customer support.
On the user experience side, we ask: Is using a provider’s TV service easy, intuitive, and reliable? Do customers get the entertainment they’re paying for with minimal frustration?
Regarding support, do these TV providers resolve issues quickly and effectively? Do they provide customers with reliable assistance, or something less than ideal?
Thinking about your recent interactions with your TV provider, how effectively did they meet your needs?
Over four-fifths of Spectrum streaming customers are highly satisfied with Spectrum’s customer experience. This is extra impressive as Spectrum TV Stream requires Spectrum Internet, so the service with both products must be pretty darn good.
Interestingly, Spectrum’s cable service came in nine percentage points lower than its streaming counterpart. This is a pattern you’ll see over the following few questions, especially, so keep reading to find out my theories as to why this is.
- Spectrum TV Stream: 80%
- Xfinity: 77%
- DIRECTV: 75%
It’s worth noting, too, that, given DIRECTV’s nationwide availability, its 75% rating might be an even bigger deal than Spectrum’s and Xfinity’s higher ratings. Consider that when comparing where you see DIRECTV (or DISH) in the rankings.
Hear from real Spectrum TV Stream customers
"Spectrum has done all they can when they come to service my equipment. And they give a discount at times."
Thinking about your recent interactions with your TV provider, how effectively did they meet your needs?
| Provider | Extremely + Very effective | Hardly + not at all effective |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum TV Stream | 80% | 4% |
| Xfinity | 77% | 5% |
| Other | 77% | 6% |
| DIRECTV | 75% | 5% |
| Verizon Fios | 74% | 4% |
| Cox | 71% | 8% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 71% | 4% |
| DISH | 70% | 6% |
| Optimum | 66% | 9% |
How easy was it to work with your TV provider?
Effectiveness is one thing, but can your TV provider resolve your issue without blood, sweat, or tears? How fast and accurately can its support department answer your questions?
Spectrum TV Stream cleared the number one spot with ease, with Verizon Fios, Xfinity, and Spectrum’s cable service all at least 10 percentage points behind.
Cox fell from its second-place standing last year to eighth place, but it only scored four fewer points. Why?
I’d say it’s less that Cox got worse as a product and more that other providers got better. With so much competition out there, providers need to keep improving for their customers, and Cox just isn’t doing that. Cox rarely runs deals (unlike most other TV providers, who hand out intro deals like candy), and it increased its TV prices by $10 with no significant quality improvements or channel count increases.
- Spectrum TV Stream:86%
- Verizon Fios, Xfinity: 76%
- Spectrum (cable TV):74%
Hear from real Cox customers
"They are okay to use, but too expensive [. . .] and don't care about how long you've been a customer."
How easy was it to work with your TV provider?
| Provider | Extremely + Very easy | Hardly + Not at all easy |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum TV Stream | 86% | 4% |
| Verizon Fios | 76% | 5% |
| Xfinity | 76% | 6% |
| Other | 75% | 6% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 74% | 7% |
| DIRECTV | 73% | 5% |
| DISH | 73% | 6% |
| Cox | 70% | 8% |
| Optimum | 65% | 11% |
How enjoyable were your interactions with your TV provider?
I doubt anyone has ever finished interacting with a television service provider, whether on a call or through a chat, and felt like they had an “enjoyable” time. That said, some exchanges are certainly less bad than others. At the very least, maybe the customer service agent refrained from pitching you a pricier package.
- Spectrum TV Stream: 84%
- Xfinity: 70%
- Cox, Verizon Fios: 69%
Spectrum TV Stream once again totally cleared this question, coming in at a wild 14 (!) points higher than the next provider (Xfinity at 70%).
What struck me immediately upon analyzing these results is how much worse Spectrum’s cable service performed than TV Stream. Both services utilize the same online chat system and rely on the same over-the-phone customer service agents, so why are TV Stream users more than 20% happier with their interactions with Spectrum than its cable counterpart?
The only answer I can figure is the general higher satisfaction people have with live TV streaming than cable. Streaming TV is more reliable than cable, leading to fewer outages and issues and, in turn, fewer interactions with customer service.
Hear from real Spectrum cable customers
"Spectrum works fine. However the customer service staff are not fully knowledgeable when resolving issue[s] for me."
How enjoyable were your interactions with your TV provider?
| Provider | Extremely + very enjoyable | Hardly + Not at all enjoyable |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum TV Stream | 84% | 4% |
| Other | 72% | 9% |
| Xfinity | 70% | 7% |
| Cox | 69% | 8% |
| Verizon Fios | 69% | 8% |
| DIRECTV | 68% | 6% |
| DISH | 66% | 6% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 65% | 8% |
| Optimum | 62% | 12% |
To what extent has your TV provider met your expectations as a cable service?
Expectations, like the “ideal cable service,” are also a bit subjective, with everyone’s likely to be slightly different. But I imagine that the core expectations for most customers are relatively aligned: reliable service, a solid channel lineup with all the core channels, no price hikes, and so on.
- Spectrum TV Stream: 80%
- Verizon Fios: 77%
- Xfinity: 75%
Spectrum TV Stream came in top spot yet again (sorry, this is getting boring). But Stream’s the only provider without a price hike this past year, plus it’s got reliability to boot. It may not have the most extensive channel lineup out there (85+ versus Verizon’s 425+), but it still is the fan fave, thanks in part to the quality of the channels it offers.
To what extent has your TV provider met your expectations as a cable service?
| Provider | Completely + very much | Hardly + not at all |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum TV Stream | 80% | 4% |
| Verizon Fios | 77% | 4% |
| Xfinity | 75% | 5% |
| DIRECTV | 74% | 4% |
| Other | 73% | 7% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 70% | 4% |
| DISH | 68% | 7% |
| Cox | 67% | 7% |
| Optimum | 66% | 8% |
Best bang for your buck
We all hate paying bills, but TV provider bills are particularly annoying. Yes, things have improved since the FCC ruled that TV providers must disclose their sneaky “junk fees,” but they’re still a pain. Let’s see which providers came out on top in terms of pricing, fees, and contracts.
Given the quality of your TV provider’s service, how would you rate the price you pay for them?
After seeing the results of this question, I went back through my records and found that every single provider on this list, bar one, had a price increase over the course of 2025.
Most went up by around $5, but the reigning champ, Verizon Fios (plus Cox and Xfinity), went up a whopping $10 a month.
Of course, price increases aren’t specific to cable TV. In fact, live TV streaming services like YouTube TV, despite achieving higher customer satisfaction scores, raise prices just as often as cable companies do. So much for streaming services being more affordable than cable!
In years past, no providers cracked 70% on this question, so it’s pretty impressive that both Spectrum streaming and Verizon Fios achieved the 70% mark. Spectrum TV Stream is the one service that did not increase its prices this year—it actually saw a $5 price decrease, down to an affordable $40 per month. For context, Spectrum cable TV had a $5 price increase back in July, on the other hand.
Forty bucks for TV service is pretty much unheard of these days, so it’s not surprising that Spectrum TV Stream came out on top.
Perennial winner Verizon Fios was close behind, which shows that even with a $10 price hike, consumers still love what Verizon has to offer with its uber-reliable fiber-optic service.
Given the quality of your TV provider’s service, how would you rate the price you pay for them?
| Provider | Excellent + good | Poor + terrible |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum TV Stream | 72% | 6% |
| Verizon Fios | 70% | 7% |
| Xfinity | 69% | 10% |
| Cox | 67% | 14% |
| Other | 67% | 15% |
| DIRECTV | 63% | 10% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 63% | 14% |
| Optimum | 56% | 18% |
| DISH | 52% | 15% |
Given your initial expectations, how would you rate the price that you pay for your TV provider’s services?
When we consider TV providers, our expectations typically focus on channels, features, and, of course, pricing. Pricing includes not only the package rates but also taxes, equipment rental fees, service and equipment activation charges, local channels, regional sports networks (RSNs), and other costs that may be unanticipated.
- Spectrum TV Stream: 74%
- Cox, Verizon Fios: 71%
- Xfinity: 69%
Last year, when Cox came in second place on this question, I took it as a fluke, since I consider Cox’s TV plans to be poor values given their lower-than-average channel counts.
However, it seems Cox customers still disagree with me, as the telco provider retained its second-place showing this year. Cox does always perform well in the reliability section (and always ends up higher than I expected in the previous “bang for your buck” question), which likely boosts its overall rating.
Hear from real Cox customers
"They're the most reasonably affordable and best bang for the buck in comparison to other companies nearby."
Given your initial expectations, how would you rate the price that you pay for your TV provider’s services?
| Provider | Excellent + good | Poor + terrible |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum TV Stream | 74% | 5% |
| Cox | 71% | 14% |
| Verizon Fios | 71% | 9% |
| Xfinity | 69% | 13% |
| Other | 66% | 17% |
| DIRECTV | 65% | 13% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 63% | 16% |
| Optimum | 58% | 19% |
| DISH | 54% | 19% |
Given competitors’ prices, how would you rate the price that you pay for your TV provider’s services?
The fact that Spectrum TV Stream beat out other providers by 6+ points on this question makes perfect sense. Spectrum TV Stream costs only $40 per month, while Verizon’s plans cost anywhere from $95.00–$139.99 per month.
Sure, Verizon’s three Fios TV plans offer more channels than TV Stream does, but in 2025, you simply cannot beat $40.00 for 85+ quality channels with a stick.
- Spectrum TV Stream: 75%
- Verizon Fios: 69%
- Cox: 68%
I also want to point out that DISH has come in dead last on all pricing questions, below perpetual loser Optimum. Bang for your buck really is DISH’s kryptonite, with pricy plans that offer lower-than-average channel counts.
Hear from real DISH customers
"Too expensive, [I] lose channels frequently. Prices continue to go up every year for the same channels."
Given competitors’ prices, how would you rate the price that you pay for your TV provider’s services?
| Provider | Excellent + good | Poor + terrible |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum TV Stream | 75% | 5% |
| Verizon Fios | 69% | 7% |
| Cox | 68% | 13% |
| Other | 66% | 13% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 63% | 17% |
| Xfinity | 63% | 12% |
| DIRECTV | 60% | 11% |
| Optimum | 54% | 16% |
| DISH | 50% | 13% |
Highest customer loyalty
Do easy, effective, enjoyable customer support interactions lead to enthusiastic customer recommendations? Yeah, for the most part. Duh.
How likely are you to continue subscribing to your TV provider for cable service?
Ah, yes, Verizon Fios is back on top. All is right in the cable TV survey world.
I’m being a bit dramatic, but it makes sense that a long-running product like Verizon Fios TV would take the cake over newbie Spectrum TV Stream in terms of customer loyalty.
Significantly, TV Stream also beat perennial high performer Xfinity, which arguably has the highest brand recognition for cable TV of all.
Xfinity, formerly Comcast, has been offering cable TV services since the 1960s, whereas TV Stream launched in April 2024. Little bit of a time difference, there, eh?
Regardless, Verizon’s win over Spectrum shows that brand loyalty and recognition are real, and Verizon has them in spades.
How likely are you to continue subscribing to your TV provider for cable service?
| Provider | Completely likely + very likely | Hardly likely + Not at all likely |
|---|---|---|
| Verizon Fios | 77% | 5% |
| Spectrum TV Stream | 73% | 8% |
| DIRECTV | 72% | 6% |
| Xfinity | 72% | 8% |
| Other | 72% | 9% |
| Cox | 70% | 14% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 68% | 6% |
| Optimum | 63% | 14% |
| DISH | 60% | 12% |
How likely are you to recommend your TV provider to a friend or colleague?
Given everything else in this survey, it’s not a shock that Spectrum and Verizon Fios customers want to share the TV love with their friends and family.
- Spectrum TV Stream: 74%
- Verizon Fios: 73%
- Cox, Xfinity: 72%
Optimum is, like most questions, at the bottom of the barrel again. My own parents, who have been Optimum cable and internet customers for over 20 years since it was Suddenlink, have finally entirely switched away from the provider.
Spotty service, channel drops, and frequent outages finally prompted them to cut the Optimum cable cord in favor of YouTube TV in 2024 and Brightspeed fiber internet earlier in 2025.
Hear from real Optimum customers
"Months and months with cable service problems, freezing of television, and shows not recorded on [the] DVR when programmed."
How likely are you to recommend your TV provider to a friend or colleague?
| Provider | Completely likely + very likely | Hardly likely + Not at all likely |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum TV Stream | 74% | 6% |
| Verizon Fios | 73% | 8% |
| Cox | 67% | 16% |
| Xfinity | 66% | 11% |
| DIRECTV | 65% | 11% |
| Other | 64% | 14% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 59% | 12% |
| DISH Network | 54% | 17% |
| Optimum | 55% | 22% |
How likely are you to increase the amount you purchase from your TV provider?
What do you mean, providers want us to give them more money? In this economy?
- Spectrum TV Stream: 71%
- Cox: 58%
- Verizon Fios: 56%
I want everyone to realize how astounding the results are for this question. Last year, Verizon Fios came in on top with just 51% approval. This year, Spectrum TV Stream won with 71% approval. WHAT?!
That 20-point increase between winners isn’t even the craziest stat I noticed. Instead, it’s that little 6% in the second column. Only 6% of respondents saying they wouldn’t increase the amount of Spectrum services they have is wild, given that last year, 30% of the winning Verizon customers said the same thing.
Even crazier is that the TV Stream already requires a Spectrum internet connection, so there are limited options for Stream customers to even add on to the service!
Spectrum cable TV fared much worse, with 29% of people saying they were unlikely to add any more Spectrum products to their personal lineup. There isn’t much else to add here on top of these very telling stats, other than a comment on the affordability of TV Stream over traditional cable. More savings on TV means Spectrum customers can spend a little more on channel add-ons, mobile bundles, or faster home internet.
This is also the first question where Optimum isn’t in the bottom two providers. Perhaps this is due to Optimum offering more services than the providers it beat out—DIRECTV and DISH—and the appeal of bundle discounts and convenience.
How likely are you to increase the amount you purchase from your TV provider?
| Provider | Completely likely + very likely | Hardly likely + Not at all likely |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum TV Stream | 71% | 6% |
| Cox | 58% | 24% |
| Verizon Fios | 56% | 26% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 54% | 29% |
| Xfinity | 46% | 33% |
| Optimum | 43% | 42% |
| DIRECTV | 42% | 40% |
| Other | 35% | 34% |
| DISH | 32% | 43% |
Most reliable
Reliability matters when you watch a lot of live TV. An unexpected service outage can spoil your Super Bowl or TV-series finale party in an instant.
Are you satisfied with your TV provider’s reliability?
The best TV provider for reliability is Verizon Fios (76%, fiber-optic), followed by Spectrum TV Stream (73%, streaming), Cox (69%, cable), and DIRECTV (69%, satellite).
In technical terms, satellite TV is generally the least reliable TV service, as it can be affected by weather. Cable is more reliable than satellite but typically less so than streaming TV (depending on your internet plan and speeds).
Fiber-optic TV (and internet) is the most reliable service, as fiber networks transmit information via cables that often run underground, making the lines less susceptible to electrical interference or natural disasters. It makes sense, then, that Verizon’s fiber TV service is our top provider for reliability for the fifth year running.
I also can’t gloss over the fact that DIRECTV, a satellite provider, is tied for third place. As mentioned, satellite is typically the least reliable form of TV service. That makes DIRECTV’s top-three showing extremely impressive, especially as its satellite rival DISH is tied for rock bottom.
Hear from real DIRECTV customers
"[I] have no problems with them. [They] have very few outages even in bad weather. They provide the content I want to watch."
Are you satisfied with your TV provider’s reliability?
| Provider | Completely satisfied + very satisfied | Hardly satisfied + Not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Verizon Fios | 76% | 5% |
| Spectrum TV Stream | 73% | 7% |
| Cox | 69% | 10% |
| DIRECTV | 69% | 5% |
| Other | 69% | 8% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 68% | 9% |
| Xfinity | 66% | 9% |
| DISH | 63% | 11% |
| Optimum | 63% | 11% |
Best features
In this section, we asked respondents to consider their TV providers’ actual products. Do they enjoy certain features, like channel lineups and DVRs? Do those features function correctly and reliably? Did those features live up to expectations?
Are you satisfied with your TV provider’s overall channel offering?
Verizon Fios has taken top place on this question for the fourth year in a row. With the highest channel count (425+ on its highest plan, The Most Fios TV) of any major TV or live TV streaming provider, Verizon certainly delivers on quantity.
So, you’d assume, quantity always equals quality when it comes to channel counts. But not so fast.
Providers, including Verizon, have been stuffing their channel counts with fillers like music channels for years. If you read our Verizon Fios channel lineup guide, you can scroll down and see that all Verizon TV plans include Music Guide channels, which immediately adds ~100 meaningless music channels to its overall count. Well, pointless to anyone with a Spotify subscription.
Still, people must like the other channels Verizon Fios does offer, as Verizon is a recurring favorite in this question.
On the flip side, plenty of other consumers are happy with a trimmed-down channel lineup like Spectrum TV Stream’s. As a reminder, TV Stream has just 85+ channels and came in only one percentage point behind Verizon. Quality > quantity!
Hear from real Verizon Fios customers
"We have access to a lot of channels and there are very rarely any problems with our cable television, but I think Verizon charges too much for their service. I would prefer fewer channels at a more affordable price."
Are you satisfied with your TV provider’s overall channel offering?
| Provider | Completely satisfied + very satisfied | Hardly satisfied + Not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Verizon Fios | 76% | 5% |
| Spectrum TV Stream | 75% | 6% |
| Xfinity | 74% | 5% |
| DIRECTV | 73% | 7% |
| Other | 73% | 4% |
| Cox | 71% | 10% |
| DISH | 67% | 6% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 67% | 7% |
| Optimum | 64% | 14% |
Are you satisfied with your TV provider’s local channel selection?
Most TV providers carry the same local channels. This is in their best interest, as customers want to stay up to date with local news and other programming.
- Spectrum (cable TV), DIRECTV: 76%
- Spectrum TV Stream, Xfinity: 75%
- Verizon Fios, Optimum: 73%
Overall, there’s super high satisfaction in this question, with every single provider finishing with above 70% approval.
This makes sense, as cable definitely beats live TV streaming for local channel selection. After switching to YouTube TV, my parents had to buy an over-the-air (OTA) antenna to get channels like MeTV that YouTube TV doesn’t offer.
This lack of local channels wasn’t a deal-breaker for them, but it is one sticking point they still think cable does much better than streaming.
Are you satisfied with your TV provider’s local channel selection?
| Provider | Completely satisfied + very satisfied | Hardly satisfied + Not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Other | 81% | 5% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 76% | 5% |
| DIRECTV | 76% | 4% |
| Spectrum TV Stream | 75% | 10% |
| Xfinity | 75% | 5% |
| Verizon Fios | 73% | 3% |
| Optimum | 73% | 9% |
| Cox | 72% | 8% |
| DISH | 72% | 4% |
Were you satisfied with your TV provider’s add-on channels and packs?
While nearly all TV providers offer the same popular premium channels (including HBO Max™, STARZ, Paramount+, and others), their prices usually mirror or closely match the direct subscription costs.
What really distinguishes providers is their offering of specialty channel packs—bundles that feature extra sports, entertainment, kids, or international channels.
But for customers already paying a high price for their basic TV package, spending more on these optional channel add-ons may not be worthwhile, even if the options are appealing.
- DIRECTV: 70%
- Spectrum TV Stream: 68%
- Xfinity: 67%
Among the top three providers, Xfinity stands out with a hefty 60+ add-ons, covering its premium channel and streaming service offerings, channel packs, sports subscriptions, and more. It makes sense that Xfinity has placed in the top three for this question for three years running.
I’d be remiss not to mention that DIRECTV has a first-place finish on this question. DIRECTV, our reigning best TV provider for deals, offers several promos regarding add-ons and premium channels. New customers get three free months of channels like HBO Max and MGM+, while existing customers get three discounted months of those same services.
Very few providers offer deals to existing customers, so those long-running promos likely contributed to DIRECTV’s high ranking in this question.
Were you satisfied with your TV provider’s add-on channels and packs?
| Provider | Completely satisfied + very satisfied | Hardly satisfied + Not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| DIRECTV | 70% | 7% |
| Other | 69% | 9% |
| Spectrum TV Stream | 68% | 9% |
| Xfinity | 67% | 9% |
| Cox | 66% | 11% |
| Verizon Fios | 66% | 7% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 61% | 13% |
| Optimum | 56% | 20% |
| DISH | 54% | 14% |
Are you satisfied with your cable TV streaming quality?
We’ve known for years that streaming is the future, and cable and satellite TV providers have caught on. Most TV providers now offer streaming options via mobile apps or streaming devices like the Xumo Stream Box. And, as you know, major telco providers like Spectrum have also begun splitting their TV offerings between cable and streaming plans.
- Verizon Fios: 75%
- DIRECTV, Xfinity: 74%
- Spectrum TV Stream, Spectrum (cable TV): 73%
Since fiber TV is the most reliable type of TV service, I wasn’t surprised that Verizon Fios came out on top in this question.
I was surprised, however, that satellite provider DIRECTV and cable provider Xfinity beat out Spectrum TV Stream, as streaming TV is typically more reliable than both satellite and cable.
However, streaming quality depends on your home’s internet speed, so lower Mbps plans could worsen TV Stream’s overall user experience. Spectrum’s base internet plans only go down to 500 Mbps (since it nixed its budget 300 Mbps plan), and 500 Mbps is plenty sufficient for streaming.
Spectrum does offer a 100 Mbps plan for low-income households, which could account for some buffering when streaming TV, especially in households with multiple internet users.
Spectrum’s cable and streaming plans tying for third place is also interesting. That seems to prove that the quality of Spectrum’s cable plans hasn’t decreased even as Spectrum has started prioritizing TV Stream as its premier TV offering.
Are you satisfied with your cable TV streaming quality?
| Provider | Completely satisfied + very satisfied | Hardly satisfied + Not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Other | 81% | 3% |
| Verizon Fios | 75% | 4% |
| DIRECTV | 74% | 5% |
| Xfinity | 74% | 8% |
| Spectrum TV Stream | 73% | 9% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 73% | 5% |
| Cox | 72% | 9% |
| Optimum | 67% | 14% |
| DISH | 65% | 9% |
Are you satisfied with your cable TV user experience (e.g., channel guide, on-demand menu, suggested shows)?
Understanding user experience (UX)—what it’s like to use a product—is essential. It doesn’t matter if a product offers you all the bells and whistles if they don’t make those bells and whistles easy to use!
Questions we ask when considering TV UX: Is the TV channel guide clear, scrollable, and easy to navigate, so you can find what you want to watch? Is the remote control intuitive, with well-placed and clearly labeled buttons? Are the programs suggested to you relevant to your interests?
- Verizon Fios: 77%
- DIRECTV, Xfinity: 76%
- Cox, Spectrum TV Stream: 72%
Verizon Fios edges out the top spot here, too, after leading most of the questions on best features. Verizon’s consistently in the top spot, with excellent on-screen guides, menus, and programming recommendations.
Xfinity, which is only one spot below Verizon and tied with DIRECTV, is our perennial fave for UX. In particular, Xfinity’s voice remote is consistently one of the best in the business, with a backlit keypad, voice control, point-anywhere functionality, easy pairing, and excellent accessibility features.
Hear from real Xfinity customers
"I rated Xfinity this way because it offers good channels, reliable service, clear picture quality, and useful on-demand features, though it could be more affordable."
Are you satisfied with your cable TV user experience (e.g., channel guide, on-demand menu, suggested shows)?
| Provider | Completely satisfied + very satisfied | Hardly satisfied + Not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Verizon Fios | 77% | 4% |
| Other | 77% | 5% |
| DIRECTV | 76% | 5% |
| Xfinity | 76% | 5% |
| Cox | 72% | 12% |
| Spectrum TV Stream | 72% | 8% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 71% | 4% |
| DISH | 66% | 7% |
| Optimum | 59% | 16% |
Are you satisfied with your cable TV provider’s DVR?
While many providers offer physical set-top boxes/DVRs with hard drives and additional features, Cloud DVR storage is becoming more common. Cloud DVRs typically have smaller storage capacities than physical DVRs, shorter keep times (some physical DVRs let you keep recordings indefinitely), and more simultaneous streams.
- Verizon Fios (physical): 71%
- Cox (physical), DIRECTV (physical): 69%
- Spectrum TV Stream (cloud), Xfinity (physical or cloud): 65%
Verizon Fios customers appreciate its affordable DVR service, which includes 50 HD hours at no extra cost with your base TV plan. If you want more storage (100 or 200 HD hours), you’ll need to fork over an additional $8 or $18 per month, respectively. I do wish Verizon would switch from a physical DVR to a Cloud DVR (Verizon Fios does offer cloud storage, but currently only for its internet products, not TV). Still, its customers seem pleased regardless.
It honestly makes sense that all the survey questions that deal with classic facets of traditional TV (DVR, add-ons, etc.) are dominated by traditional TV providers like Verizon Fios, DIRECTV, Xfinity, and Cox. That doesn’t automatically mean that traditional TV is better than streaming, of course, but it does mean that to some consumers with different priorities, classic may just win out.
Even when highfalutin’ gig speeds make streams extra crisp, and Cloud DVR abounds on live TV streamers, some folks just want a solid, easy-to-use experience with good DVR and add-on capabilities. Traditional TV isn’t dead quite yet!
Are you satisfied with your cable TV provider’s DVR?
| Provider | Completely satisfied + very satisfied | Hardly satisfied + Not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Verizon Fios | 71% | 5% |
| Cox | 69% | 8% |
| DIRECTV | 69% | 8% |
| Other | 69% | 7% |
| Spectrum TV Stream | 65% | 10% |
| Xfinity | 65% | 6% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 63% | 9% |
| DISH | 60% | 12% |
| Optimum | 59% | 22% |
Are you satisfied with everything else your cable TV provider offers?
By “everything else,” I’m referring to anything we missed in our survey—essentially, any other facet of your TV service that extends past channel selections, DVR boxes, cost, performance, support, and so on.
- Spectrum TV Stream: 72%
- DIRECTV: 71%
- Verizon Fios: 70%
I took these scores—which we see as the last opportunity for customers to share their opinion on their chosen provider—and checked them against the overall satisfaction scores. And, wouldn’t ya know it, they were pretty darn similar, with DIRECTV edging out Verizon and Xfinity for second.
This brings us back to the dominating force of this survey: Spectrum TV Stream. It stepped out of the limelight for these last few questions, but when you look back on this survey, TV Stream had a truly commanding performance. It’s especially impressive when you remember that this is the first time Verizon Fios hasn’t taken top marks in over three years.
This all boils down to the simple fact that the cable landscape has changed. Sure, people still pay for cable—and I think will continue to until every last telco provider dies off (which may or may not be eventually inevitable)—but streaming TV is the direction most of these providers are moving in.
Streaming isn’t the future anymore, it’s the present. Even my Gen X parents have finally dropped the burden that is Optimum cable and switched to YouTube TV!
In this day and age, it just makes sense that a cable provider’s streaming offshoot would dominate a survey full of cable and satellite TV providers. Even so, the cable horse hasn’t been beaten down yet, and we’ll keep covering it until it does.
Are you satisfied with everything else your cable TV provider offers?
| Provider | Completely satisfied + very satisfied | Hardly satisfied + Not at all satisfied |
|---|---|---|
| Other | 76% | 6% |
| Spectrum TV Stream | 72% | 13% |
| DIRECTV | 71% | 7% |
| Verizon Fios | 70% | 5% |
| Xfinity | 68% | 8% |
| Cox | 65% | 11% |
| DISH Network | 63% | 8% |
| Spectrum (cable TV) | 62% | 8% |
| Optimum | 61% | 11% |
Methodology
The team here at CableTV.com has been the internet’s resident cable TV experts since way back in 2007, and has conducted our Customer Satisfaction Award surveys for eight years.
For 2026, we surveyed nearly 5,000 people across the U.S. to measure their satisfaction with their TV provider. Our sample reflected broader U.S. demographics (i.e., gender, race, age, etc.) and was analyzed using prevailing industry standards by our data experts.
A 125-respondent floor requirement was implemented when a provider was included in our analysis. For more information on our methodology, check out our Why You Can Trust CableTV.com page.
If you’re a member of the media and you have follow-up questions, feel free to contact us at pr@cabletv.com.
