Television apparatus

A media appliance comprising:

• a video apparatus for outputting signals for display on a screen;
• a control device allowing a user to control the output of signals from the video apparatus to the screen, including selection of an on-screen viewing activity;
• a network interface for accessing a packet-based network;
• a memory storing a communication client application;
• and
• at least one processing apparatus, communicatively associated with the memory, network interface, and video apparatus, and arranged to execute the communication client application to cause the media appliance to perform operations including:
• maintaining a list of contacts;
• allowing the media appliance to establish communication events with the contacts' respective media appliances via the network interface and the packet-based network;
• generating a machine-readable data item indicating the current selected on-screen viewing activity of the media appliance;
• and
• transmitting said machine readable data item to a plurality of said contacts' respective media appliances via the network interface and packet-based network, the machine-readable data item being configured to enable a respective media appliance to be automatically switched to a television channel associated with the current selected on-screen viewing activity of the media appliance when a current on-screen viewing activity on the respective media appliance is different than the current selected on-screen viewing activity.

A method of operating a television appliance, the method comprising:

• maintaining a list of contacts;
• allowing the television appliance to establish communication events with the contacts' respective television appliances via a network interface of the television appliance;
• receiving a machine-readable data item via the network interface from a television appliance of a respective one of said contacts' television appliances, the machine-readable data item indicating a current television channel being displayed by the respective contact's television appliance;
• and
• processing the machine-readable data item so as to cause the television appliance to be automatically switched to the current television channel being displayed by the respective contact's television appliance when the television channel being displayed by the respective contact's television appliance includes different content than a current channel being displayed by the television appliance.

A communication client application comprising code embodied on a computer-readable memory and configured to, when executed via a processing apparatus of a television appliance, cause the television appliance to perform operations including:

• maintaining a list of contacts;
• enabling the television appliance to establish communication events with the contacts' respective television appliances via a network interface to a packet-based network;
• receiving a machine-readable data item via the network interface and the packet-based network from a television appliance of one or more of said contacts, the machine-readable data item indicating a current television channel being displayed by the respective contact's television appliance;
• and
• processing the machine-readable data item so as to enable control of at least a portion of said user's television appliance in relation to the respective contact's television appliance and based on the processed data item, said control including automatically switching said user's television appliance to the current television channel being displayed by the respective contact's television appliance when the television channel being displayed by the respective contact's television appliance includes different content than a current channel being displayed by the television appliance.