Interesting. I was not informed about different "platforms" for Contour. I have "Contour TV 200+ Channels" that includes Cox On Demand. Are you implying I might not have access to all On Demand movies?
Last weekend Interstellar was listed at On Demand from Channel 1 access, right next to Arrival under the odd classification of "First Contact" listing several movies of that kind of science fiction. I watched Arrival. I was going to watch Interstellar then saw it would not be available until February 28. Now it and the odd classification are missing from there, but still listed at the Cox On Demand website. I looked for a search box at On Demand via Channel 1 and found none. There is the A-Z option but that means is too many to look through. The Cox On Demand website http://www.cox-ondemand.com/ does have its own internal search box for specific movies, from which Interstellar is easily found. It is also listed under the "First Contact" classification. The instructions are: "Watch Now
- 1. Go to Channel 1 or Press the On Demand button
- 2. Select "First Contact"
- 3. Scroll to select "See Full Listing of Titles"
- 4. Select "Buy Now"
Keep in mind "First Contact" is a classification or category or sub-genre. I wondered why that specific one and not others of which there should be many. I'm a writer so I know about genres and sub-genres. For example why not list "Murder Mysteries" as an option there. Why just "First Contact" for science fiction? Maybe, with me signed in, the system knew of my interest in science fiction, but I don't see how it could know of specific sub-genre of "first contact" stories. There is a funny coincidence about all of this. Arrival listed under "First Contact" is THE FIRST MOVIE I've ever watched via Cox On Demand. This past weekend is the first time I decided to give it a try. The 200+ channels didn't offer anything of interest at the time I was looking, so I decided to see what On Demand has to offer. I would have watched Interstellar first but "Available 2/28" prevented it. So I watched Arrival, and waited to today Feb 28 to watch Interstellar, but now it is gone from there but still listed at the website. Maybe Cox On Demand planned to provide it starting today, but at the last minute could not get it and had to remove its listing - and someone forgot to also remove it from the website. That kind of thing has happened to old network broadcast TV many times - I know since I was born in 1956. Like TV Guide listing a movie but then the date and time arrives and the network does not show it for whatever reason.
The Scroll to select "See Full Listing of Titles" was not necessary because a dozen or so were listed under "First Contact." Most of the others much older movies as far back as 1977.
The Select "Buy Now" was not the only option - I could click on "Rent Now" and did so for Arrival, which was listed under three places - "Featured" - "New & Most Popular" - and the odd "First Contact" further down the page.
All that worked for Arrival last weekend, as did finding Interstellar. But since then Interstellar and the "First Contact" classification has been removed from On Demand via Channel 1.
I did have a technical problem with Arrival. A few minutes into it got a "technical" problem notice on screen, then knocked back to the menu and asked to "try again later" to watch it. Trying agin later, the "Resume" watching button to click on was missing. So I re-rented it, then called Support to confirm I was not charged twice. Then to fix the "technical" problem it was necessary to "reset" my "box" - after which the "resume" button became visible to click on, and then I continued watching Arrival without any further problems. Just in case there is a "technical" problem with listing Interstellar today, I "reset" my "box" again, but it is still no longer listed. Keep in mind, it was listed there this past weekend. So it appears someone removed it and the odd classification from there, but did not do so at the website.
There's one other forum listing same problem with a different movie - listed at website but not via Channel 1 On Demand. The customer who posted that one has not yet received a reply. Here's the link to that forum...
...so I'm not the only one having same or similar problem.
I'd use Cox On Demand more in the future, but it is not well organized at On Demand via Channel 1, and finding a specific movie of interest is nearly impossible. The website is only slightly better for listing movies but it does not mesh well with the actual On Demand and its odd way of listing movies. I wish watching online from the website were an option too, but Cox doesn't offer that. Much improvement needed. But when it does work well the convenience for me makes it worth the price. I'd rather rent and watch via On Demand than to rent or buy a DVD from a local store. And better to watch on my big TV than to watch via online from various sources on my small notebook.
