Competitors to the cable industry--which has been on a major roll lately--were quick to jump all over the most recent J.D. Power & Associates customer satisfaction ratings for cable/satellite providers because they show satellite operators DirecTV and DISH Networks outperforming major cable operators.

In fact, the highest-rated service provider is a little-known triple-play provider in the upper Midwest called WOW! But close behind in every category were DISH and DirecTV, with only Cox and CableOne as close cable competitors. The largest cable operator, Comcast, was well down the satisfaction charts.

This is obviously good news for AT&T, BellSouth, Qwest and Verizon because the majority of the video services they provide today as part of their bundled service come from one of the two largest satellite providers.

AT&T, in particular, plans to partner with DISH well into the future, making its satellite service a key component of the new Homezone service.

To some degree, the most recent survey takes some of the sting out of the J.D. Power & Associates survey of telecom services in which cable came out on top.

In both cases, there seems to be a clear indication that consumers have accumulated gripes against their legacy service providers, opening the door for a new company to enter.

There are some storm clouds on the horizon, however, for the telco-satellite partnerships. Near-term, DISH may lose one of its more popular features--a multi-room Digital Video Recorder service--if a Texas jury's ruling is allowed to stand.

Longer term, as Verizon and AT&T roll out their own video services, they will inevitably compete with these partners. It shouldn't be long, especially for Verizon, to start showing up on the J.D. Power rating radar. The rumors continue to whirl about an EchoStar-DirecTV merger, which could also change the landscape. That looked more likely before the joint satellite venture dropped out of the running for wireless spectrum.

So, for as much as they can gloat over the latest findings, telcos need to continue their laser-like focus on getting their own video service up and running, and massively deployed.

Verizon today released a survey of Pittsburgh consumers showing that company outranks Comcast by a four-to-one margin on issues such as value, reliability and service quality. That's good news for the major telecom company--in that one market. The better news will be when Verizon can offer all of Pittsburgh a video product of its own.