The massive snowstorm over the weekend that ravaged the northeastern U.S. was expected to produce a flurry of over-the-top video and VOD activity as consumers hunkered down, but VOD usage on Saturday night surged to record levels for Comcast.

Per the MSO, Xfinity on Demand set a record for views with 1.29 million people watching concurrently on Saturday, breaking the number set during last year’s Watchathon.

Comcast also said VOD views were up 23% from the previous Saturday, driven by regions impacted by Jonas – views in Pittsburgh were up 38%, in the Northeast, including Boston and Connecticut (up 40%), Philadelphia and New Jersey (up 50%), and Baltimore and Washington, D.C. (up 56%).

Among titles, NBC’s Shades of Blue topped the cable/broadcast show category, while HBO’s Game of Thrones was the most popular in the premium arena. Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans Go was the most watched kids show, Hotel Transylvania on FX was the most viewed free VOD title.

The Intern was the most popular movie rental, though The Martian took it down in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. 

Expanding on its Watchathon initiative, Comcast is providing its video subscribers with a week-long opportunity to catch up on some of the best that cable has to offer via live viewing and an array of on-demand fare.

The Free Channel Week extends from Sept. 22 and Sept. 28 and affords Xfinity TV Digital customers unlimited access across myriad devices to thousands of TV shows and movies from more than 30  channels.

The programming play, aimed at providing sampling and ultimately customer acquisition, encompasses Encore, A&E, AMC, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Food Network, FX, History, Lifetime, Movieplex, MLB Network, National Geographic Channel, Nick Jr., Sprout, Sundance, Syfy, TNT, TBS and USA Network, among others.

The initiative, which builds on Comcast’s highly successful Watchathon on-demand gambit by adding live viewing to the mix, will give Xfinity customers a chance to reacquaint themselves with or watch some of cable’s most successful programming for the first time during broadcast’s premiere week, including AMC’s zombie hit, The Walking Dead, FX’s biker skein, Sons of Anarchy, and TNT’s summer hit, The Last Ship.

Free Channel Week also has kids (and parent) appeal with access to Nick Jr.’s Paw Patrol and Disney XD classics like Lab Rats and Phineas and Ferb, while sports fans can check out the final week of the 2014 baseball season’s pennant chases, via coverage on MLB Network.

The nation’s leader distributor provided details about Free Channel Week on its "Comcast Voices" blog.