Disclosure includes a system, method and architecture to monitor media content streams, e.g., streams of digital encoded media data such as without limitation audio and/or video data, from a number of media content streaming providers and identify media content items from those media content items being streamed by the media content streaming providers for inclusion in a personalized media content stream for a user. In a direct streaming approach, the media content items contained in a stream are available while each item is being streamed by the content provider. In a centralized streaming approach, media content items contained in each media content stream that is currently being streamed by content provider are available for a limited window of time, which can be dependent on buffer length.