Why won't On Demand work?

I was browsing through the cable channels this evening (we have Comcast) and noticed a bunch of On Demand channels in the 600 range. They're all stuff like TNT, Comedy Central and Cartoon Network On Demand. They seem to be free, so I was messing around trying to call stuff up.
Only problem is, it won't come up. I hit all the buttons, and a screen that says something like "Your program is being accessed" pops up, with a spinning arrow and a message telling me to wait a moment. Well, a moment turned into 20 minutes, so I canceled it. Tried another program on a different channel, same thing. Is this normal for On Demand channels? Am I doing something wrong?

 

Methinks you have to pay for those.

 

They're getting a check from the government so they have no incentive to work.

Whoops, sorry. Wrong thread. ;D

 

Was this just introduced?

Those channels are free and you should be getting those programs. Had similar problems when OnDemand was introduced here. Some days it worked, others it didn't. I don't know what the issue was, but I haven't had any trouble with it lately.

 

solid.

 

I think so. I usually stop around channel 200, before you get into the HBOs and Cinemaxes (which we don't get), so I hadn't noticed them until yesterday. Some of the shows I've tried to call up are listed on the "recently viewed" menu on those channels, but obviously they haven't been. Unless you count three hours of arrows spinning in a circle. In bed last night, I tried again and fell asleep waiting for it to load. Woke up a few hours later and the message was the same.

And spnited, these are the freebie On Demand channels. Things like HBO On Demand, you have to pay for. There's prices listed on those. There's no prices listed on these. Of course, if I tried to order something off one of the pay channels I'm sure it'd pop right up.

 

I'm pretty sure with Comcast all the OnDemand stuff - including all the stuff you mentioned - is only available through the OnDemand menu on Channel 1 (and yes, I also have Comcast)

 

Those "channels" are just free advertising for the fact that you can get stuff from those channels in the On Demand menu. Press 1 and go through the menu to access the content.

 

Speaking of this, does anyone know when the DirectTV OnDemand will start? They have been teasing it for a little while now, but it's still not operational. Any word?