If you’re growing tired of binging Game of Thrones or Big Little Lies all alone during this pandemic, we’ve got some good news: HBO has teamed up with Seattle-based Scener to allow users to host virtual viewing parties, making this the first major partnership between WarnerMedia’s HBO network and an online co-viewing platform, according to the Verge.
With Scener’s Google Chrome extension, anyone with an HBO Now or HBO Go subscription in the United States can create a private “virtual movie theater” where they can add up to 19 of their closest friends can watch any show or movie on the platform. The company also works with Netflix. The feature works on Windows, Mac or Chromebook and offers the ability to chat via video, audio and text.
For a long time, the go-to spot for groups wanting to virtually stream a movie or show together was Twitch. However, this content was often streamed illegally by individual users. Over the past several months, legal alternatives have been created like Netflix Party, Twitch “Watch Parties” and now HBO’s Scener feature.
“Unlike a Twitch stream, which is primarily a broadcast live stream, Scener focuses on synchronizing the entertainment content that each member of a theater already has access to, and giving you a social sidebar that lets you interact with friends. Think Zoom meets Netflix,” co-founder Joe Braidwood told Built In. “Everyone watching needs a subscription to the service they use, so it’s respectful of copyright and content licensing and that has been one of the key differences to other co-watching products. This respect for rights is what paved the way for our partnership with HBO.”
Scener has been around for about two years and originally provided software that added “picture-in-picture commentary to streaming shows and movies,” according to GeekWire. The company has since pivoted to its current co-watching model and has seen quite a bit of success, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Braidwood says, in just the last couple of months, usage of the site is 15 times higher than prior to the outbreak, and he doesn’t foresee the trend going away anytime soon.
“We think it’s very likely that, for quite some time, people will be social distancing. This means new behavior patterns will form, and will stick, once we start to go out back into our communities,” Braidwood said. “Watching TV content at home is already one of America’s favorite pastimes, as is interacting over social media. We really see this as a combination of those two big trends, and there’s plenty of opportunity for those to be relevant far after the lockdowns we’re seeing now.”
Looking ahead, Braidwood says the company is working on some features to let users host much bigger co-watching events, allowing them to have a few people in a live video chat and the rest of the viewers in an audience.
“We think this will be a really significant way to create big tent-pole moments around shows and movies in the near future, and we’re very excited to work with the industry and influencers, actors and directors to find novel ways to come together around great content,” Braidwood said.
