Abstract

Systems and techniques are described that provide an enhanced and more pleasurable experience for a user when interacting with a television (TV) application running on a media player. The TV application may interface with media content providers to fetch media content for streaming to and viewing on the media player by way of the internet. The media player may be a computing device (e.g., a Smart TV, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a mobile computing device, a desktop computing device, etc.) connected to a network and interfaced to the internet.

A media content viewing experience of a user may be fragmented and isolated. Media content creators and providers may be challenged when monetizing media content effectively. For example, the user may be presented with advertisements during the watching of the media content that may be distracting and disruptive to the user when watching the media content, detracting from the enjoyment of the user while watching the media content. In addition, or in the alternative, the delivery of media content by media content creators and providers may lack the ability to provide seamless integration and media content delivery across multiple computing devices. The user, therefore, watches the media content alone, yet may desire to have a shared watching experience with others (e.g., family and friends) that enhances the viewing experience of the user when watching the media content.

In some implementations, a user may host or participate in a watch party. An application provided by a single media content provider may offer watch party features that allow synchronized playback of a selected media content item. In some cases, the application for the media content provider may additionally provide a basic chat function that allows the viewers of the media content item to chat with one another. In general, the watch party is limited to a single delivery platform (e.g., the single media content provider). The watch party may lack robust interaction features for use by the viewers (e.g., chatting, sharing, pausing play, fast forwarding play, rewinding play, etc.). The watch party may not work seamlessly across different computing devices.

In some implementations, a third-party application may enable watch parties across different media platforms offered by different media content providers. The use of a third-party application by a viewer of the media content may require that the viewer install extensions or additional software on the computing device of the viewer. The viewing experience of the viewer might not be as enjoyable, smooth, or integrated as compared to a native smart TV feature (e.g., including the watch party experience native to a TV application).

In some implementations, a third-party application that provides live streaming (a live streaming platform) may offer real-time shared viewing experiences to users of the application. The real-time shared viewing experiences, however, may be limited to sharing live streaming media content and gaming, and may not offer real-time shared viewing experiences for on-demand media content such as television shows and movies.

In general, a real-time shared viewing experience of a user with others across multiple different media content delivery platforms may be limited to a specific platform, tied to a single media content provider, or require each user to have a subscription to each specific delivery platform. In addition, or in the alternative, each delivery platform may lack beneficial and enjoyable interaction features such as real-time chats, reactions, or individual media content playback controls (e.g., pause, rewind, fast forward, etc.). In addition, or in the alternative, the delivery platforms may provide limited computing device capabilities. For example, the media content delivery capabilities for each delivery platform may not work seamlessly across different computing devices such as smart televisions, smart phones, tablet computers, mobile computing devices, laptop computers, and desktop computers. In addition, or in the alternative, during the real-time shared viewing experience the user may be presented with disruptive advertising models that may interrupt the shared viewing experience with frequent and/or irrelevant advertisements.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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