Comcast XFINITY TV → [VOD] SyFy On Demand showing Rent when trying to watch prrograms

I noticed today that when I try to watch any Video On Demand shows for The SyFy network that the screen shows Free with Subscription but when I selct an episode to view the only option I see Is Rent to watch the show and I do not want to pay for the show since SyFy is included with my subscription (Digital Preferred). Has anyone elso noticed this recently?

I've noticed something similar but not exactly the same. When an episode if available to both watch and rent/buy the tag on the right side will say rent or buy instead of On demand which is the tag used for free shows. But when I expand the episode details it gives me the watch option too.

I am also seeing this with other shows that are on other channels like TNT and USA. I do have Digital Preferred so I am able to watch these channels normally. I did check my TV channel lineup for my account online and it is not listing these channels that are part of the Digital Preferred lineup in my channel list and this might be due to "Comcast is in the process of converting to a new billing system in certain markets. " and maybe my account is not configured correctly while they are working on this in Pennsylvania.

Seems that this problem is back today. It was working ok last week and now today it is showing Rent again when I select shows on SyFy. Maybe since I paid the new bill earlier this week they switched it to Rent again to try and get more money from me ? Anyone know if there is something going on with the Video On Demand system in Pennsylvania?

The DownDetector site is showing issues for Comcast today, although not showing PA directly. It's weekend eve and my VOD has been wonky the last 3 out of 4 weekends.

Thanks for the info. What is the DownDetector site?

See: »downdetector.com/status/ ··· -xfinity

One problem we have noticed is that if one uses the search feature of On Demand for a particular movie the results will show many instances of the film with varying prices to view. Going to the various premium channels in the On Demand menu and scrolling through the choices, finding the same movie as searched for in search produces a link where there is no cost as we subscribe to the premium channel. Why wouldn't the search feature find the free option?

I haven't tried Syfy, but with other networks, I find that I have more success finding the "free" pages by drilling in through the networks or premium channels than just top-level searching for films.

Also, using the Comcast web site TV listings and adding a show to the watchlist, and then when I "My DVR" button and drill into "watchlist" and the specific show under that, I see the free episodes.

I currently have one show on my watchlist because Tuesday nights wound up with more shows on at 8pm than my DVR has tuners, and of course none of the three shows have consistent repeat airing times.

I've also noticed that the search feature doesn't always bring up ALL of the listings. For example, there are a couple of 2-hr episodes about the Titanic sinking (not the movie). When I'd enter "Titani" (or thereabouts) in the search, it would only bring up various prices for the movie. BUT ... when I'd go to VOD and search in the NatGeo or Smithsonian channel, voila ! There's the episodes.