Efficient Insertion of Media Items in Media Streams

A method, comprising:

• playing, at a media client, a primary media stream, wherein the primary media stream is streamed from a first source;
• obtaining, by the media client, a reference to a particular secondary media item;
• accessing, by the media client, a secondary media stream, wherein the secondary media stream is streamed from a second source, and the secondary media stream comprises a sequence of serially streamed secondary media items including the particular secondary media item;
• using the reference to the particular secondary media item to record, at the media client, the particular secondary media item from the secondary media stream;
• and
• playing, at the media client during a secondary programming timeslot of the primary media stream, the particular secondary media item that was recorded from the secondary media stream.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

• playing, at a media client, a primary media stream, wherein the primary media stream is streamed from a first source;
• obtaining, by the media client, a reference to a particular secondary media item;
• accessing, by the media client, a secondary media stream, wherein the secondary media stream is streamed from a second source, and the secondary media stream comprises a sequence of serially streamed secondary media items including the particular secondary media item;
• using the reference to the particular secondary media item to record, at the media client, the particular secondary media item from the secondary media stream;
• and
• playing, at the media client during a secondary programming timeslot of the primary media stream, the particular secondary media item that was recorded from the secondary media stream.

A system, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• one or more non-transitory computer-readable media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause performance of operations comprising:
• playing, at a media client, a primary media stream, wherein the primary media stream is streamed from a first source;
• obtaining, by the media client, a reference to a particular secondary media item;
• accessing, by the media client, a secondary media stream, wherein the secondary media stream is streamed from a second source, and the secondary media stream comprises a sequence of serially streamed secondary media items including the particular secondary media item;
• using the reference to the particular secondary media item to record, at the media client, the particular secondary media item from the secondary media stream;
• and
• playing, at the media client during a secondary programming timeslot of the primary media stream, the particular secondary media item that was recorded from the secondary media stream.