• by Wayne Friedman , November 29, 2013

When it comes to pay TV consumer satisfaction, DirecTV and Dish Network are now leading the business.

According to a YouGov BrandIndex Satisfaction study, a London-based research company, DirecTV has a leading 21 “satisfaction” score, registering no change over the past six months.

Second-place Dish Network made gains over the period -- three points, to land at a 16 number. In third place is Cox Communications, rising two points to hit a 14 score.

Farther down the list comes Cablevision System Corp., which lost four points -- now at a 5 score. After this comes Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable operator. It only has a satisfaction score of 1. Its previous score six months ago was a negative 1.

Time Warner Cable, the second-largest U.S. cable operator -- and now subject to potential takeover rumors -- sits far behind other pay TV companies with a negative 10 number. Six months ago it was at a negative 7.

Not helping matters was the high-profile TV blackout of CBS stations and its cable networks in August. Time Warner lost a reported 306,000 customers in the third quarter as a result.

YouGov’s study asked the question: “Are you a satisfied customer?" All respondents were adults 18 and older. Research results are based on 30,000 interviews conducted during 2013 to date, with a margin of error of +/- 2%.

YouGov BrandIndex’s Satisfaction score ranges from 100 to -100 and are compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive. A zero score means equal positive and negative feedback.