Why does my just rented movie say I can play it in 48 hours?

Question

So we came home on a Friday Night and commenced our family Pizza and Movie Night, sat down covered with cheese and for the first time decided to rent a movie on the Apple TV.  We had watched NetFlix movies for almost a year, with no issues.  But... now my boys wanted to watch Transformers 3... we'll have to rent that.  No problem!  Apple TV has us covered.  Rent, play, keep eating.  Not so much.  The spinning "thinggy," as I the 7 year old calls it, greeted us with a message we couldn't believe.  "Your movie will be ready to play in 48 hours and 26 minutes."
You can imagine our house was not a pleasant place to be...
So, is this normal?  Is the vaunted Apple TV rental system not a streaming service?
Jayden (the 7 year old) sends..

Answer 1

Sounds like this is indicative of the Apple TV not getting a good connection from which to stream... that is, data is trickling in.
If the rest of your Internet connectivity appears to be OK (you can browse around in the iTunes Store, watch YouTube videos, examine people's Flickr photos, etc.) then the only thing left is that Apple's TV rental services are in a slump.  I suggest you contact the iTunes Store support channels and tell them what you are experiencing.
The URL for iTunes Store support is:
https://expresslane.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.do
for the United States.  Of course, if you are not in the United States, use the support channels appropriate for your country by using this link:
https://expresslane.apple.com/GetCountriesDetails.do
Good luck!
—tonza