Twitch announces ‘Host Mode’; offers TV-like programming

Twitch has announced a new feature which allows users to host other live streams on their own channel.

While using ‘Host Mode’, a channel owner can embed any other channel’s broadcast directly in their own Twitch feed – for example, while they are not streaming themselves.

The feature should allow broadcasters to create a television-like programming schedule, switching between different ‘programmes’ on a single channel at their whim.

The channel owner’s chatroom remains the same, meaning those already chatting can continue to do so while watching the new stream.

Channels using Host Mode won’t appear in Twitch’s live directory, meaning viewers won’t be able to find the channel until the mode is turned off.

Viewers watching streams embedded via Host Mode will count towards the original streamer’s viewer count, and will have the ability to follow and subscribe to the original channel from the host.

Host Mode is only available on the Twitch website for now, with mobile support yet to be announced. On other platforms, the host channel will appear offline, but chat will continue to work.

At our core, Twitch is a live video destination, so we’re very interested in increasing the social connectivity between users,” said Yoh Suzuki, senior product engineer at Twitch.

"We want to help our community discover new broadcasters and give users new and better ways of communicating with each other. Host Mode is a significant step in this direction with other new social features just around the corner.”