HBO and Scener will make it possible for people to stream together

Watching TV shows and movies with friends and family is often more entertaining than a standalone experience, yet options to do so remotely have so far been limited. Scener, an online chat platform, attempted to remedy that by introducing compatibility with Netflix, allowing users to sign into their Netflix accounts and watch various content while sharing webcam feeds. While it was already fairly popular among viewers who don’t always have the option to watch something with other people in-person, the pandemic has greatly increased demand for the video-sharing service.

Demand for co-viewing services was already on the rise

In response, Scener has also partnered with HBO, meaning that viewers of the network will now have the same compatibility as those on Netflix. It marks HBO’s first foray into co-viewing, although the network has already created a platform where up to 20 people can watch a certain show or movie together.

The increase in demand has also forced Scener to update its Google Chrome extension to handle the renewed load, as the surge of users made the previous version of the app close to unusable for some. Although online co-viewing is fairly novelty, other platforms and networks are also trying to issue their own product to facilitate the experience. Amazon is one of them, although it has turned to a less direct approach by utilizing its Twitch platform by letting streamers create viewing rooms which users can enter, provided they have an Amazon Prime subscription.