Both a friend and I use the lowest Paid tier for CR and we have noticed that episode 2's of new shows have been blocked from being able to Chromecast to our TV's. A third friend switched to a higher tier, after not being able to cast on the lower tier, and was able to cast the second episodes immediately on the higher tier.

It appears only selected titles (mostly new shows, not season 2's) are currently blocked. It's probably only a matter of time before they expand the practice to all shows.

So wanted to see if this is just for certain regions or a blanket process for the lowest tier package for everyone. (We are in California in the US).

Seems like a scummy way way to force people onto higher tiers. We know it's intentional because it happens on multiple accounts on multiple devices and when you try to cast your entire device screen, it's just a black screen on the TV. Then the problem goes away after paying for a higher tier.