Adaptive streaming of multimedia

A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, including instructions to cause a processor to:

• select a primary program for presentation from a program listing;
• stream the primary program at a primary streaming rate;
• present the streamed primary program at a quality consistent with the primary streaming rate;
• determine a number of secondary programs and a corresponding secondary streaming rate for each, wherein each of the secondary streaming rates is less than the primary streaming rate;
• and
• stream the number of secondary programs at their secondary streaming rates, while the primary program is being streamed and presented.

A system for adaptive streaming of programs, comprising:

• a user interface system;
• a communication system to communicate with a network;
• a controller, including one or more processors and a memory, to interface with the communication system and the user interface system;
• and
• a housing to house the communication system, the controller, and the user interface system, wherein:
• the user interface system is configured to select a primary program for presentation from a program listing;
• the controller includes a streaming module to stream the primary program at a primary streaming rate;
• the user interface system is configured to present the streamed primary program at a quality consistent with the primary streaming rate;
• the controller includes a determiner module to determine a number of secondary programs and a corresponding secondary streaming rate for each, wherein each of the secondary streaming rates is less than the primary streaming rate;
• and
• the controller streaming module is configured to stream the number of secondary programs at their secondary streaming rates, while the primary program is being streamed and presented.