Methods and systems for assisted content delivery

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processing system of a client device coupled to a network, cause the processing system to:

• request an initial set of one or more encoded media segments corresponding to media content from an origin content server on the network;
• receive the initial set of one or more encoded media segments from the origin content server;
• request a subsequent set of one or more encoded media segments following the initial set of one or more encoded media segments from a remote-storage digital video recorder (RS-DVR) system on the network;
• receive the subsequent set of one or more encoded media segments from the RS-DVR system;
• and
• stage the initial set of one or more encoded media segments and the subsequent set of one or more encoded media segments in a presentation buffer.

A method of streaming media content corresponding to a live event over a network, the method comprising:

• receiving, at an origin content server, a request for an initial set of one or more encoded media segments corresponding to the media content from a media player on a client device via the network;
• identifying, by the origin content server, the request as originating from the media player on the client device;
• in response to identifying the request as originating from the media player, temporarily transmitting, by the origin content server to the client device, the initial set of one or more encoded media segments of the media content to the media player on the client device via the network using a modified transport layer protocol;
• receiving, at the origin content server, a second request for a subsequent set of one or more encoded media segments following the initial set of one or more encoded media segments via the network from a remote-storage digital video recorder (RS-DVR) system on the network;
• and
• transmitting the subsequent set of one or more encoded media segments to the RS-DVR system, wherein the RS-DVR system transmits the subsequent set of one or more encoded media segments to the client device in response to the RS-DVR system receiving a third request for the subsequent set of one or more encoded media segments via the network from the media player on the client device.