Comcast Video on Demand
Comcast finally got around to rolling out video on demand in my neighborhood. I started playing with it last night. They never actually told me it was now available, but a window popped up while I was watching television saying something like, “available on video on demand.”
So what is it? Try to imagine a rather large TiVo running back at Comcast. You can access that TiVo from your Comcast set top box. On the TiVo you’ll find some free movies, some pay per view movies, some movies and shows from the premium channels (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz) and other assorted programming. You can pick whatever you want to watch from the available content. It’s then streamed to your set top box immediately. This is nice for movies because you pick the start time. No more wading through the guide looking for the next run of the pay per view or premium channel movie you want to see. Just pick it and watch.
Even better, just like a TiVo you can pause, rewind and fast forward any video on demand content. If you decide to stop whatever you’re currently watching, it goes in your saved list so you can resume it later. I started watching The Chronicles of Riddick last night. I fell asleep on the couch, woke up and stopped the movie. When I woke up, I came back out to the television, went to saved programs and resumed the movie from where I left off. It looks like it only keeps saved info for up to 24 hours. I’m not sure why it’s so short, it would seem like they could easily get away with making that longer.
What I Like:
If you miss your favorite show on a premium channel, you can go back and see it. HBO, for instance, makes back episodes of the Sopranos available (not all of them, I’m not sure how far back it goes…but I know it’s not all the way back).
I have a HD set top box and it appears that I’m receiving HD movies. Riddick appeared to be in HD, anyway. More HD is always better.
The DVR-like controls (pause, rewind and fast forward) are killer features. When you consider the technology of what’s going on, it’s also quite remarkable.
What I Don’t Like:
Programming is limited. There’s some old, free movies you can watch. There’s pay per view. There’s programming from the 4 premium channels. But there’s no network or basic cable programming available for the most part. It looks like Discovery has some stuff, but that’s definitely not the norm. You’re not going to find back episodes of CSI, for instance.
You’re going to have a hell of a time if you’re using a TiVo hooked up to the set top box. You’ll have to use the remote that came with the cable box to access the video on demand bits. That means you’ll be changing channels on the cable box without letting the TiVo know. Awkwardness ensues.
The limited amount of time they give you on saved programs. I’m assuming all that’s really contained in the save information is the ID of the content and an offset indicating the resume point. It’s not like that’s a huge amount of information. Give me a week to keep that information.
