On Demand Picture Blanks Out

When the picture comes back with no sound, hit the MUTE button twice.  Once to MUTE it (even though there's no sound), then a second time to UNMUTE it.  Works every time for us.

@VFBundy1966 My MUTE button is configured to mute the TV not the cable box.  Comcast's setup of the remote does that, and I suspect that is the case for most people.  Hence, this does not generally work.

The shortest sequence I've found that works (once it blacks out) is OK (which starts it up with no sound), then EXIT (which returns to the display of recently viewed shows), then OK (to select the show again), then OK once more (to select "Resume watching").  I find it's generally in the wrong place, requiring a bit of a rewind until something looks familiar, then resuming playback from that point.  Very annoying.

@user_467577, Hi, were you able to follow the steps VFBundy1966 responded with on your concern and if you did has it worked for you or are you still having this same issue?

@XfinityMiguel what @VFBundy1966 described is not a fix for the problem, just a procedure that (maybe) gets the sound back AFTER the problem occurs.  And, as I pointed out, even that cannot possibly work if Setup has configured the mute button on the remote to mute the TV.

No...this is certainly not a solution!  Just something that makes getting back into the program perhaps go a little faster.  Yesterday, it was happening over and over.  Unwatchable.

Yet, the rest of the cable works fine.  (Thankfully.)  It's a software issue that appears to affect the older cable boxes.  Not our cables, not our connections, not defective boxes.  

@VFBundy1966   Non X1 here. We have the older cable box too.

@VFBundy1966. I also have the non X1 box.   And, I've noticed that this problem started at the same time that on Demand stopped displaying the promos in the upper right hand corner of the screen when I accessed on Demand. 

@VFBundy1966 Older, non-X1 box here as well.  I doubt they introduce glitches on purpose; I think X1 requires Xfinity Internet, and the cities to which they provide cable service would undoubtedly not allow them to require internet service as a condition of getting cable.

@Rosedale1 I did notice the disappearance of the "promo channel" or whatever it was that ran, but I didn't make the connection with the blanking problem but now that you mention it, it seems to me like it has been about the same time for both.  The disappearance of the promo has annoyed me somewhat; I usually watch with closed-captions on, and now when I go to the menu to get something On Demand, the show that was running continues in the corner, and captions are thrown up in front of the selections I am trying to choose from.  (When I remember, I change to a music channel--no captions-- before going to On Demand to get around this problem, which is easier than switching to the TV remote to turn off the captions.)

This happened at exactly the time the got rid of the promo channel in the corner....and that seems to be when it started for everyone.  There's a good chance that that update started causing problems.

Maybe they don't introduce glitches on purpose, but seeing that this seems to be exclusively older cable box users, I sort of doubt they're going to be in any hurry to fix it.  In fact, their answer might simply be that we have to "upgrade" to the X1 boxes.

@Rosedale1 I have noticed that the Official Xfinity employee has stopped responding to  the posts here,   This is absurd;

@Rosedale1 Thank you, I did send an email,    Have you heard anything

Hey there @cmw112,

Our community team is always looking to help our customers out in anyway we can from opening tickets to taking a look into local area interruptions or problems. What I would suggest is private messaging us your account details so we can associate a ticket or take a look into the area if this is a local issue. I read the thread and see a lot of customers are from MA that are experiencing the issue. To send the requested information:
  • Click "Sign In" if necessary
  • Click the "Direct Messaging" icon 
  • Click the "New message" (pencil and paper) icon
  • The "To:" line prompts you to "Type the name of a person". Instead, type "Xfinity Support"
      there. As you are typing a drop-down list appears.
  • Select "Xfinity Support" from that list. An "Xfinity Support" graphic replaces the "To:" line.
  • Type your message in the text area near the bottom of the window
  • Press Enter to send it

@cmw112 I did.  They said the same thing I was told here that my cable line is damaged.   So, I followed their advice and scheduled a tech visit. 

@Rosedale1  When are they coming out?  I am sure you will update us.. Isn't it funny how they rep;y here when called out??? I did write Tom and heard from him

@XfinityMartinB I'm from Maryland so this issue is not unique to MA and we all have non-X1 boxes.   Isn't it possible that the on Demand team made some system update around December 22nd that is causing this?  We can't all have damaged cable lines. 

Also in western Mass. with a non-X1 box. 

@VFBundy1966 We have the same problem here in New Jersey. My neighbors have the non X1 boxes and we all have the blank outs.

@NJSenior would you and your neighbors please write a comment on the link https://support.xfinity.com/svp-contact-form.  Maybe if enough of us complain to this corporate email someone will listen

@Rosedale1   Lets see what happens with your tech visit.  I would like to read about it first and I can only ask my neighbors to write. It appears that corporate is giving you a scripted (bad cable/bad box) answer. Do these community message boards mean nothing ? These posts provide ample evidence of a problem that originates with Comcast and not at our homes.  Again I ask...So Comcast employees who also have On Demand haven't noticed the blank out ? 

Hello and thank you for taking the time to reach out to us here on our Xfinity Forums! Are you still experiencing the issue with On Demand with your cable box? 

@cmw112 someone clicked that the Accepted Solution was for all of us to upgrade to X1.  I unchecked it.

Thanks,   I have been in touch with corporate.  And, I had a new wrinkle... Last night, I was watching a show (commercial free) and it went blank.  When I exited and got back in, the show was rewound to about 20 minutes earlier, and now there were commercials!  

Hello there @Franco40 If you are still running into the Blackout issues please let me take a closer look for you! Please send me a message with your name and the address for your account so I can better help!

Here are the detailed steps to direct message us: • Click "Sign In" if necessary • Click the "Peer to peer chat" icon (upper right corner of this page) • Click the "New message" (pencil and paper) icon • Type "Xfinity Support" in the to line and select "Xfinity Support" from the drop-down list • Type your message in the text area near the bottom of the window • Press Enter to send your message