Television Relay for a Social Network

摘要

The subject matter described herein relates to transmitting and displaying a channel of a television to a non-subscriber when a subscriber is viewing the channel so that both the non-subscriber and the subscriber can simultaneously view the channel. A channel is displayed to a subscriber of a service offering the channel. A presence status of the subscriber is monitored. The presence status characterizes a subscriber presence for viewing the channel. The presence status is displayed to one or more contacts of the subscriber, including the non-subscriber. The channel can be simultaneously displayed to the subscriber and the contacts of the subscriber for as long as the subscriber views the channel until a predetermined period of time. Related methods, apparatuses, systems, techniques and articles are also described.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
providing content of a video channel from a content server to a first user via a communication network; receiving, by a management system connected to the content server, a request from a second user for the content of the video channel; and providing the content of the video channel from the content server to the second user when the first user and the second user are determined to be associated as contacts or friends in a social network, the content of the video channel being provided to the second user until the content of the video channel is no longer provided to the first user.