Hi H8It:
I can tell you (also being in IT) that some of the problems are not on the customers side, for example the endlessly repeating commercial loop is not a client side issue but a server side issue. I've also managed to figure out that in some cases the problems are Flash related, almost like a version mismatch between the server and client side.
Having read many of the posts here and gleaning a few facts from what a number of other IT posters have said and some of my own experience some of these problems are almost certainly on the advertising servers that serve the area's where people are having problems. I suspect (but can't prove) that this problem is confined to certain area's because most people are not posting their general location. One person happened to mention that they were in Kentucky and that was about it; I'm not experiencing a lot of problems and I'm in New Jersey (Essex County).
A suggestion that was made to me by another helpful user that I've been suggesting to everyone having serious issues is to go to the networks own web site i.e. ABC, NBC, CBS, FX, TNT, HBO, Showtime etc and watch from there. In almost all cases where the problem is on the streaming or advertising servers people have no issues streaming from the networks site.
As far as I'm aware of ComcastJoe does still work at Comcast, although it's been suggested that summer is the most popular time for people to take vacation.
- Norm