Marchex Study: Hold Times Hurt Cable & Satellite Industry; Millions at Stake When Customers Hang Up

Feb 6, 2013

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 6, 2013-- The Cable & Satellite industry stands to lose out on more than $100 million in potential subscriptions this year because of frustrating hold times, according to data released today by Marchex, Inc.(NASDAQ: MCHX).

Marchex, a mobile advertising company focused on calls, examined the true costs of keeping Cable & Satellite customers waiting on the phone – a question of growing importance as more and more customers call from their smartphones. The data was aggregated from a sample of 455,600 phone calls in 2012 based on more than 10 Cable & Satellite advertisers.

The report found that of the industry’s more than 36 million sales calls from prospective customers, 4.3 million are abandoned due to hold times. That’s 12 percent – roughly three times the abandonment rate of other industries, such as auto, travel and education.

“It’s a huge loss to the industry,” said Chen Zhao, principal analyst on the study. “Cable & Satellite companies have a lot on the line when customers call. Our data show there is a big chance – and 12 percent is big – of losing potential new subscribers to competitors.”

The findings point to the massive growth of mobile phones as the silver lining. According to the data, 78 percent of Cable & Satellite phone calls come through mobile connections. The report outlined steps on how to turn these phone calls into sales.

“There is a great opportunity to capitalize on this growing market,” Zhao said.

To download the entire study, please go to http://www.marchex.com/mobile_cable_performance.

About Marchex:

Marchex, Inc. delivers customer calls to businesses and analyzes those calls so companies can get the most out of their mobile advertising.

Marchex supports its customers through a unique technology platform that has three primary components: (1) Call Analytics, which powers all of our advertising solutions, and allows partners to leverage data and insights that accurately measure the performance of mobile, online and offline call advertising; (2) Digital Call Marketplace, which annually connects millions of consumer calls to our advertisers from a range of mobile and online sources on a Pay For Call basis; and (3) Local Leads, a white-labeled, full-service digital advertising solution for small business resellers that drives quality phone calls and other leads to their small business advertisers.

Marchex is based in Seattle. To learn more, please visit www.marchex.com.

Source: Marchex, Inc.

Marchex Public Relations
Sonia Krishnan, 206-331-3434
Email: skrishnan(at)marchex.com
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Marchex Investor Relations
Trevor Caldwell, 206-331-3600
Email: ir(at)marchex.com

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