Yes, if your feed is down for more than 30 minutes (I believe) you are not able to obtain the premium features. It used to be immediately after the feed went down but they just changed it.
"How come John is triple executive platinum with a red star, and my profile shows double-extra-minor-feed provider with a blue star??? WHY??! David has 3 gold stars and I have 4 gray stars and a green check mark? WHY???"