We used to be able to watch rented movies from Apple TV right away.  Now it takes hours.  Is there a setting to change?

We used to be able to watch rented movies from Apple TV right away.  Now it takes hours.  Is there a setting to change?  They used to start playing after a few minutes of starting the download but not now.  What's up?

Pat, I've been experiencing this issue intermittently for weeks.  It seems to occur with HD content --including HD trailers --exclusively.  Tonight has been no exception.
I have done considerable troubleshooting to try and isolate the cause.  My results suggest that Apple's servers are to blame but I've not seen many others reporting this issue in these forums lately.
I live only 170 miles from Apple's North Carolina server farm.  I assume my iTunes rentals are being fed from there.  My broadband connection is a fast one (30Mb down) and consistently tests near that speed when this issue occurs.
I have both a first and second generation AppleTV.  When this issue occurs, I will change devices and rent the same movie to see if th device itself is to blame.  The issue affects both.  I have tried using an ethernet connection instead of my Airport Extreme's 5Ghz wireless connection but that does not remedy the issue.
So... my broadband connection is more than capable, my router is performing optimally (I recently had my local Apple Store test it as well), and neither of my AppleTV's is immune to the issue, so...  it must be on the delivery end.
Unfortunately, Apple does not post the status of their iTunes Store's servers like they did with their MobileMe servers.  They should.  In fact, the AppleTV should display a status message when Apple's iTunes servers are experiencing technical difficulties or heavy network traffic.
I was an early adopter of AppleTV.  It has not been problematic until now.  This is trying my patience.  My advice is that you request a refund everytime this happens.  I do.
I am taking this matter to the VP of iTunes services.  If Apple's servers are choking, or if their streams are being throttled by ISP's, or internet TV is too ambitious for this country's internet infrastructure, I deserve to know.

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