A method carried-out by a client media receiver , comprising: receiving, at the client media receiver , a prioritized streaming channel bundle transmitted over a communications network by a streaming media server , the prioritized streaming channel bundle comprising a plurality of streaming channels having varying priority levels assigned to each one of the streaming channels, wherein the priority levels are used by the streaming media server for bandwidth allocation purposes; outputting, to a display device associated with the client media receiver , a first streaming channel contained in the prioritized streaming channel bundle ; receiving, at the client media receiver , a user channel change request to view a second streaming channel contained in the prioritized streaming channel bundle; outputting, to the display device, the second streaming channel that is contained in the prioritized streaming channel bundle for immediate viewing; monitoring, at the client media receiver , for an additional channel change request within a predetermined wait period commencing upon receipt of the user channel change request; and if an additional user channel change request is received within the predetermined wait period, outputting, to the display device , the newly-requested streaming channel from the prioritized streaming channel bundle , if it is available, and repeating the step of monitoring, and if an additional user channel change request is not received within the predetermined wait period, transmitting a channel reprioritization command to the streaming media server to prioritize the streaming channel last requested by the user over the first streaming channel in continued transmission of the prioritized streaming channel bundle. receiving, at the client media receiver , a prioritized streaming channel bundle transmitted over a communications network by a streaming media server , the prioritized streaming channel bundle comprising a plurality of streaming channels having varying priority levels assigned to each one of the streaming channels, wherein the priority levels are used by the streaming media server for bandwidth allocation purposes; outputting, to a display device associated with the client media receiver , a first streaming channel contained in the prioritized streaming channel bundle ; receiving, at the client media receiver , a user channel change request to view a second streaming channel contained in the prioritized streaming channel bundle; outputting, to the display device, the second streaming channel that is contained in the prioritized streaming channel bundle for immediate viewing; monitoring, at the client media receiver , for an additional channel change request within a predetermined wait period commencing upon receipt of the user channel change request; and if an additional user channel change request is received within the predetermined wait period, outputting, to the display device , the newly-requested streaming channel from the prioritized streaming channel bundle , if it is available, and repeating the step of monitoring, and if an additional user channel change request is not received within the predetermined wait period, transmitting a channel reprioritization command to the streaming media server to prioritize the streaming channel last requested by the user over the first streaming channel in continued transmission of the prioritized streaming channel bundle. <EOS>