Temporally-seamless channel change functionality in multichannel streaming environments

A streaming media server comprising a non-transitory storage medium containing computer-readable code and a processor configured to execute the computer-readable code to perform an automated process, the automated process comprising:

• transmitting, by the streaming media server, a streaming channel bundle comprising a primary streaming channel in an optimal quality over a communication network to a client media receiver;
• transmitting a secondary channel concurrently within the streaming channel bundle to the client media receiver, wherein the secondary channel comprises a rolling segment of content to be recorded by the client media receiver and has a quality level that is sub-optimal in comparison to the optimal quality of the primary streaming channel;
• receiving, by the streaming media server, a request for the secondary channel;
• in response to the received request, appending a file segment to the secondary channel to ensure continuity in presenting content from the secondary channel and to enable an immediate presentation of content from the secondary channel by the client media receiver, wherein the file segment comprises a historical gap fill segment and a portion of a live stream of the secondary channel at the optimal quality, and wherein the file segment is appended prior to elapsing of presenting the rolling segment of content from the secondary channel;
• and
• concurrent with continued transmitting of the primary streaming channel in an optimal quality by the streaming media server, adjusting the quality level of the secondary channel to lower a bitrate for accommodating bandwidth variations in the communication network.

A client media receiver comprising a processor, an interface to a communications network and a non-transitory data storage having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, perform an automated process comprising:

• receiving, from a streaming media server via the communications network, a streaming channel bundle comprising a primary streaming channel in an optimal quality over the communication network to the client media receiver and a secondary channel, wherein the secondary channel has a quality level that is sub-optimal in comparison to the optimal quality of the primary streaming channel;
• recording the secondary channel as a rolling segment of content;
• rendering the primary streaming channel for playback on a display to a user of the client media receiver;
• receiving an input from a user of the client media receiver to transition the playback on the display from the primary channel to the secondary channel;
• and
• in response to receiving the input from the user:
• switching the playback on the display from the primary channel to the secondary channel, wherein initial playback of the secondary channel is performed based upon the recorded rolling segment;
• transmitting an instruction via the communications network to the streaming media server to thereby instruct the streaming media server to adjust the quality level of the secondary channel based on bandwidth constraint conditions of the communication network;
• receiving a new file segment from the streaming media server in response to transmitting the instruction, wherein the new file segment comprises a historical gap fill segment and a portion of a live stream of the secondary channel;
• and
• appending the received new file segment to the recorded rolling segment during playback of the secondary channel to ensure continuity in the playback of the content from the secondary channel and to enable an immediate playback of content from the secondary channel upon receipt of the input from the user by the client media receiver;
• and
• wherein the streaming media server adapts the quality level of the secondary channel during playback of the primary channel in an optimal quality to lower a bitrate of the secondary channel and thereby accommodate bandwidth variations in the communication network.