Magid Survey: Comcast HD Preferred over DBS HD

Comcast is taking out full-page newspaper ads touting the quality of its HD picture quality with the headline: "Comcast wins the HD Picture challenge." In the ad, the cable giant contends that even satellite subscribers agree in a side-by-side comparison that its cable video is better than DBS content.

The survey for Comcast was conducted in March by Frank N. Magid and Associates. Comcast said all technical requirements for the comparison test--including initial set up, content, and maintaining the TV monitors and signals throughout the process were validated by an independent technical consultancy.

Respondents were shown service provider HD signals (via Comcast, Dish and DirecTV) on identical, unbranded HD sets (HD technology was not provided in the study) and asked to rate the screens based on "picture quality." A quarter of all respondents were Dish subs and another quarter were DirecTV subs. A third quarter were Comcast digital subs, and the remaining quarter were Comcast analog subs. They were not told in advance that the survey was for Comcast.

Two-thirds of the respondents (66 percent) who voiced a preference gave a nod to the Comcast HD picture over DirecTV's; more than two-thirds of the respondents with a preference (70 percent) chose Comcast HD video over Dish's.

Magid said the findings were "statistically significant at a 95 percent confidence level." Comcast requires online registration to see the study results.