(I just joined to hopefully get assistance with this, so I hope I'm posting in the right place!)
As a huge Doctor Who lover and curious about Torchwood, I decided to check out the new Torchwood: Miracle Day. I saw that it was OnDemand and I was able to watch the first episode in full (widescreen version, not HD) without having to subscribe (I'm not actually sure if my family is subscribed to Starz or not) but when I went to watch the second episode, it would not let me watch it and said I would have to subscribe. I am confused as to why I was able to watch the first episode, but not the second (or third, for that matter). Was this just to give me a taste of Starz OnDemand to make me subscribe for the rest of the episodes, or is this some sort of glitch?
Thanks!
Great question... I thought I'd take a shot at trying to help figure this out.
First off, Starz does not come standard in any of the TV packages, it comes in the Showtime Starz movie package ($9.99 for Starz, Encore, and IFC). Based upon that, I'm guessing if your family wouldn't have purchased an extra movie package like that, then you probably don't have Starz yet... Although now you know you can get it for $9.99 a month 🙂
Second, in case it makes you feel any better, I was able to reproduce the exact same "glitch" too. What's odd to me is that if I searched for Torchwood then I could watch the episode one non-HD "widescreen" version, but if I navigated to it through the OnDemand menu choosing Premium --> Starz, then I couldn't get it to play. I did notice that in the 2nd way I tried to access it, I didn't actually see an option for a "widescreen" version, only the HD one and then one that didn't say anything (although I'm pretty sure the non-HD one is probably the widescreen title, that part of the title was probably just getting cut off due to display limitations in the guide).
Lastly, I am in the regional marketing department at Verizon (in California) and I haven't heard anything about select Starz titles being setup as a free preview lately. There is even a weekly report that goes out which usually includes news about this sort of thing and that report hasn't mentioned it. So while it's possible this is some kind of free preview that's been around for a while, it actually seems like a glitch to me. I'm sorry I don't have any kind of official answer for you but hopefully this all helps!
Starz made the first episode avalable (non-hd) for everyone. Obviously a teaser.
I stand corrected, there IS a "Premium Freeviews" folder in the Premium Channels section of Video On Demand. Sure enough, in the "Starz&Encore Free" folder there are a handful of Torchwood titles, including Torchwood Episode 101.
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