Comcast's customer satisfaction scores have dropped again in all three triple-play categories, with the nation's largest cable and broadband company faring particularly poorly in pay-TV service.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index's (ACSI) latest annual report on telecommunications and information , released today, places Comcast at the bottom or near the bottom of the major company rankings in TV, Internet, and phone service.

"Cable companies are trying to strengthen their positions through consolidation," the report said. "After its merger with Comcast failed, Time Warner Cable recently agreed to be acquired by Charter Communications. None of these companies score particularly well. Comcast plummets 10 percent to 54 [in TV service], tying its low mark previously set in 2008. Time Warner Cable fares even worse, plunging 9 percent to 51, tying ACSI newcomer Mediacom Communications for the lowest score among more than 300 companies in the index."

Time Warner Cable did improve its score in Internet service, however, ranking ahead of Comcast. The ACSI interviewed 14,176 customers for this report, which also covers wireless phone service and computer software. Participants were chosen randomly and contacted in January and February of this year. Scores are given on a 100-point scale; Internet service providers have generally fared worse than other industries scored by the ACSI, which also grades restaurants, appliance makers, banks, gas stations, the US Postal Service, airlines, health insurance, and much more.

While Verizon FiOS maintained its lead over AT&T U-verse in the major provider pay-TV rankings, AT&T has leapfrogged FiOS to take the top spot for Internet service. Here are ACSI's ratings in all three triple-play categories:

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Comcast has not disputed its poor customer service ratings, and it promises to get better.

“We have a massive plan underway to reinvent the customer experience," Comcast told Ars today. "We are investing an incremental $300 million, hiring thousands of people and looking across our business to make real changes in the way we interact with customers. We have had early positive feedback from customers who have experienced some of these changes firsthand, but it will take time for those results to be reflected in national surveys like ACSI.”

The ACSI report did not detail the specific areas in which Comcast service has declined since its last annual report, but it provided charts showing areas where providers in general have gotten better or worse. "For the industry overall, customers say that subscription TV service has deteriorated in nearly every aspect," including picture quality, ease of understanding the bill, and call center performance, the report said.

For Internet service, customers said their bills have actually become easier to understand, but Internet providers still produced lower satisfaction scores in data transfer speed, quality of video streaming, and call center performance.

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Overall satisfaction with Internet service stayed the same between 2014 and 2015, while subscription TV and telephone service satisfaction both declined.

As for cellular phone service, Verizon Wireless dropped in customer satisfaction but still rated higher than T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint. However, TracFone Wireless and the "all others" category—representing smaller providers—performed better than the big four.

While home Internet users have little choice of operators, especially at higher speeds, cellular phone service "is a more competitive industry than Internet service, and most customers can choose from major national carriers plus at least one smaller regional or prepaid carrier," the ACSI wrote.

Average wireless scores were significantly higher than those for TV and home Internet service, but about the same as the scores for home telephone service.

"The aggregate of smaller wireless companies shows the highest customer satisfaction by far with a 1 percent uptick to a combined score of 79," the ACSI report said. "Smaller companies tend to be no-contract carriers with lower fees, which customers perceive as better value."

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The final category in the report is computer software, with Microsoft measured against "all others" who make software for desktops and laptops, including things like TurboTax and antivirus programs. Microsoft maintained its rating of 75 while the average of all other companies declined from 77 to 74.

The full ACSI report can be downloaded for free after filling out a brief form.