A year or two ago, I watched notch stream coding for a weekend game competition, and it was fascinating. It was on the front page of HN for a while. I ended up watching it for a couple of hours while I did some low-cognition tasks. I think the appealing aspects for me were:

  * Seeing someone else's desktop and windowing habits
  * Watching for new keyboard shortcuts
  * Seeing workflows similar to mine in different IDEs and languages
  * Seeing workflows in domains I'm unfamiliar with, like collision detection
  * Finding someone's taste in music

Much of what I learned about programming was absorbing habits and handed-down knowledge from coworkers. Live streaming lets you get that without the necessity of making friends or getting hired somewhere. Sitting at someone's desk and working with them is an experience I have to describe as intimate.