Co-Viewing Technology on Streaming Platforms

Hulu recently announced testing for its first social feature, Hulu Watch Party, that would allow groups of up to eight people to co-view shows and movies through a chat window. Hulu is just the latest streaming platform exploring this new way of content consumption. Since the COVID-19 shutdown, many people have started using the Google Chrome extension Netflix Party (which serves the same purpose) to watch content remotely with their friends, and HBO is planning to implement co-viewing technology on all WarnerMedia streaming platforms (*but this will not apply to HBO Max immediately at launch). 

Now, co-viewing is nothing new. People enjoy sharing their reactions to what they watch. “Water-cooler talk” goes hand-in-hand with serial television. In more modern times, this has evolved into people sharing through social media their reactions regarding the latest on their favorite shows. In fact, if you look at what’s trending on Twitter right now, you will probably find a trending hashtag after a recently released television episode or media event. Perhaps this also explains the thought process behind Fox’s new show ‘Celebrity Watch Party’-- a production where “celebrities and their families watch and react to the week's most interesting television shows”.

Notwithstanding, until now, co-viewing and the subsequent shared experiences/discussions following suit only really work for shows that release episodes one at a time (like how network television does). For streaming services that usually release an entire season at a time, it’s harder for viewers to be able to react with others, episode-by-episode, in a unified way. However, co-viewing technology can remediate this issue and may provide a different kind of interpersonal watching between parties. Especially as the lockdown prevents people from watching the same episode with their friends, this may be the next best thing-- and, when the lockdown ends, it is unlikely that this feature will grow any less popular.

If we consider the COVID-19 pandemic as an accelerator for business trends-- especially when thinking about how our watching habits are evolving to be more digital/streamer-heavy, I believe that co-viewing technology such as Hulu Watch Party will become the new norm for how we watch and share content in unified ways.