Channel Zero S4E1 missing in SD

[ForrestS]

Syfy just put all six episodes of Channel Zero season 4 On Demand. Except that S4E1 is missing in SD.

I called it in, took about 15 minutes but Comcast rep Jared got the ticket for the On Demand Support Team written and gave me the number: CR814087253

No need for others to call this in. If necessary, other reps can contact the friendly Jared. I’ve encountered a different process experience every time I’ve phoned in problems like this. This took time since the first rep didn’t know what to do, it seemed. She wanted a cable box signal sent. Jared assured me that wasn’t the problem here.

Hopefully fixed soon.

[ComcastTambrey]

Hello, ForrestS.

I looked into this particular episode and it shows that content has expired. I also see that ticket you listed has been closed without any further updates. Post an update if you hear anything back from that team, but that is working as intended.

[ForrestS]

If episode 1 expired for SD, why didn’t it also expire for HD?

Episode 1 aired on Oct 26, only six days ago. How can it be expired after only a few days (as of my report) ? On those grounds, episodes 2 and 3 and maybe 4 should also be expired by now.

The Comcast staff needs to reinvestigate, in my humble opinion.

[BruceW]

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@ComcastTambrey wrote: ... I looked into this particular episode and it shows that content has expired. ...

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It seems unlikely in the extreme that the SD version of a program ("Channel Zero: The Dream Door", S4E1, "Ashes on My Pillow") that just aired on 10/26 should have "expired" already, especially when the HD version is still very much available. An error on the part of SYFY, InDemand, or Comcast seems much more likely.

[ComcastMorgan]

​Hello ForrestS and BruceW. On Demand content is provided by the network. Availability, pricing, and broadcast are subject to their discretion.​ We appreciate you identifying and notifying us of the missing content. We will report this issue on our end and partner with the network provider as needed to work on getting the SD version of that episode uploaded to the on demand platform. 

[ForrestS]

Here’s what I just sent to Syfy Network. They are not taking phone calls due to a full voicemail box.

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Is Syfy Network aware that episode 1 of recently aired Channel Zero Season 4 has not been made available in SD form by Comcast in their On Demand listings? Is Syfy aware then when apprised of this fact, Comcast’s first feedback to its user community was that episode 1 had already “expired”? By this, Comcast means that Syfy Network, the show owner, no longer allows it to be made available on Demand.

Clearly, Comcast is in error, since the show only first aired a week ago, the HD version is available, and there is no history of Syfy demanding such limited availability of any major show offering.

But you should be made aware of the bad light it sheds on your Network, even if this turns out to be a fault somewhere in Comcast processing.

[ComcastZach]

ForrestS -- Thank you for your continual support of reporting these assets to us. This has been given over to our On Demand support team for further assistance. To be clear though, this is not a clear Comcast issue. As we've told you several times, the files we receive from the content holder do not always work properly and are not always coded properly. As we mentioned this particular asset expired. Expiration dates are not set by Comcast or any other provider. An early expiration date would have been an error on the file we received. Our On Demand support team will work with SyFy to have the SD file re-pitched to us. 

[ForrestS]

Zach: it is good to hear that the problem is being worked. I agree with you that the providers might at times provide bad files. But it is confusing when Comcast says that an episode that aired in the past week has expired. I believe distinction must be made between the expiration of the “full-commercial” version and the “less-commercials” version. The former expires typically within 3-7 days, the latter has a much longer life.

It may be that the full-commercials version of S4E1 expired and deleted just *before* I first looked for Channel Zero Season 4, and the replacement file (less-commercials) was somehow unavailable for one episode in SD. That seems the most likely scenario here. If so, however, the answer shouldn't be “sorry, it’s expired”. No, the answer should be “sorry, we’re waiting on the provider to supply the replacement .” Functionally, it’s not expired, it is missing.

It’s almost like we all need a different verb than “expire” when referring to the initial file that is intended to be replaced within the first week.

Thanks again.

[ForrestS]

I finally see this missing episode in SD. But it’s too early to declare success. Episodes 2-6 have expiration dates of 10/26/2019, so they’re available for about a year. But newly posted episode 1 says “Remaining Rental: 23h59m”. Is it going to go away tomorrow? It doesn’t show the 2019 expiration.

I can’t watch for at least a week, let’s see if there’s a problem in coming days.

[ComcastZach]

ForrestS -- Thank you for confirming you're able to see this episode in SD. Please let us know if you're unable to watch the newly posted episode. 

[ForrestS]

Looks like it expires today, which isn’t right. I’ll look again on Friday to see if it’s still there.

[ComcastZach]

ForrestS -- Ok. Please let us know when you have a chance. 

[ForrestS · Accepted solution]

Now it has the 2019 expiration date so it is resolved.

[ComcastMatt]

Perfect, glad to hear that is corrected for you.