A lesson in customer care.

The satellite TV industry would be more than double its current size if it were to sign up every unsatisfied cable customer, according to Innovista Research, an independent research firm specializing in consumer market analysis for the cable, satellite and interactive television industries.

An improvement in customer service would go a long way for cable companies, given that only 69% of cable subscribers are happy with their service, compared to 90% of satellite subscribers, the company reported in the June 2002 issue of The Innovista Report [www.innovista.tv]. In fact, one in five satellite customers had subscribed to cable TV during the past year, but dissatisfaction with their cable service led them to cancel it, according to the report.

"Cable operators must not underestimate the relationship between profitability and customers satisfaction," said Todd Wiener, president of Innovista Research. "Digital cable growth is particularly vulnerable, in light of the fact that dissatisfied analog subscribers are 57% more likely than very satisfied analog subscribers to feel that digital cable costs too much."

[GRAPHIC OMITTED]