Scener, a browser extension that allows users to co-watch Netflix — similar to the newly popular Netflix Party Chrome add-on — is expanding to support HBO NOW and HBO GO. Additions come along with a full Scener relaunch that reinvents its coronavirus-era product as a virtual movie theater experience where up to 20 viewers can watch the video, audio, or text chat together in a virtual movie theatre.
The company says it will also carry out a “1-to-many” version of its virtual theatre experience shortly that will allow users to host even more synchronous audiences, similar to an Instagram Live, but sync with the underlying video content subscription service.
Some co-watching experiences are illegal — Twitch was sued for allowing its creators to stream live sports games to their viewers, for example. For years, video messaging apps such as Skype and FaceTime have been used as workarounds to fix the issue of not being able to access U.S. content from overseas. But Scener is partnering with distribution providers to ensure that it has the right arrangements in place to lawfully sell the drug.
HBO has reported to TechCrunch that WarnerMedia has approached Scener to require subscribers of HBO NOW and HBO GO to access content through its network extension in a way that retains its IP. HBO will not elaborate on the terms of the contract, except that.
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Also, Scener could not confirm whether its permission to stream content from HBO would extend to the new HBO MAX service from WarnerMedia due to launch on May 27, 2020.
However, any streaming service should be supported by Scener ‘s technology, as long as the service offered a way to stream the video content through the Chrome browser. To use Scener as a private virtual theatre, the browser extension simply requests permission from the user for the sites in question.
Originally a part of RealNetworks, Scener first developed a Chrome extension in 2018 that allowed users to record video comment tracks that could be played asynchronously alongside Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube content. This resulted in something similar to an experience like “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” if you are familiar with the show.
Scener created a company in 2019 after breaking out of RealNetworks, which then integrated co-watching of Netflix content with video chat. It had also been partnering with other service suppliers to create smartphone prototypes.
But the COVID-19 pandemic focused Scener ‘s efforts on its Chrome extension as the product was being used on the desktop 15 times as the U.S. quarantined.
The latest edition, which arrives today, is a complete reconstruction of the original, says Joe Braidwood, co-founder of Scener and COO. And also, he says, it’s just the beginning of what Scener has in store.
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The company has not announced what other deals might be in the works, but its extension requires permission to read and change data on Hulu.com and DisneyPlus.com, in addition to the HBO websites. Scener will not comment on that, only that it’s focused on providing the perfect co-watching experience with programming HBO NOW and HBO GO.
