In one embodiment, a method that receives at a client device a unicast content stream; receives from a network an indication of a future time corresponding to when to send a join message to acquire a multicast content stream; accesses historical information about transitions between unicast and multicast content streams; and sends a join message for the multicast content stream at a time corresponding to the indicated future time subject to a time offset determined by the client device, the time offset based on the historical information.