diff --git a/api/handler.go b/api/handler.go
index 6690946..d5d5d07 100644
--- a/api/handler.go
+++ b/api/handler.go
@@ -133,6 +133,10 @@ func (h *apiHandler) viewershipHandler() chi.Router {
 		With(h.cache(false)).
 		MethodFunc("GET", fmt.Sprintf(`/{%s}/total`, assetIDParam), h.getTotalViews)
 
+	// realtime viewership server side (internal-only)
+	h.withMetrics(router, "query_realtime_server_viewership").
+		MethodFunc("GET", "/internal/server/now", h.queryRealtimeServerViewership())
+
 	// total views public API
 	h.withMetrics(router, "query_total_viewership").
 		With(h.cache(false)).
@@ -558,6 +562,29 @@ func (h *apiHandler) getTotalViews(rw http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	respondJson(rw, http.StatusOK, totalViews)
 }
 
+func (h *apiHandler) queryRealtimeServerViewership() http.HandlerFunc {
+	return func(rw http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		userId := r.URL.Query().Get("userId")
+		if userId == "" {
+			respondError(rw, http.StatusBadRequest, errors.New("userId is required"))
+			return
+		}
+
+		if !isCallerAdmin(r) {
+			respondError(rw, http.StatusForbidden, errors.New("only admins can query server-side viewership"))
+			return
+		}
+
+		metrics, err := h.views.QueryRealtimeServerViews(r.Context(), userId)
+		if err != nil {
+			respondError(rw, http.StatusInternalServerError, err)
+			return
+		}
+
+		respondJson(rw, http.StatusOK, metrics)
+	}
+}
+
 func (h *apiHandler) getStreamHealth(rw http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	respondJson(rw, http.StatusOK, getStreamStatus(r))
 }
diff --git a/views/client.go b/views/client.go
index 7784128..fab6eb7 100644
--- a/views/client.go
+++ b/views/client.go
@@ -107,6 +107,16 @@ func (c *Client) Deprecated_GetTotalViews(ctx context.Context, id string) ([]Tot
 	}}, nil
 }
 
+func (c *Client) QueryRealtimeServerViews(ctx context.Context, userId string) ([]Metric, error) {
+	viewCount, err := c.prom.QueryRealtimeViews(ctx, userId)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error querying start views: %w", err)
+	}
+	return []Metric{{
+		ViewCount: viewCount,
+	}}, nil
+}
+
 func (c *Client) QuerySummary(ctx context.Context, playbackID string) (*Metric, error) {
 	summary, err := c.bigquery.QueryViewsSummary(ctx, playbackID)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/views/prometheus.go b/views/prometheus.go
index 9033597..f655553 100644
--- a/views/prometheus.go
+++ b/views/prometheus.go
@@ -33,6 +33,26 @@ func NewPrometheus(config promClient.Config) (*Prometheus, error) {
 
 func (c *Prometheus) QueryStartViews(ctx context.Context, asset *livepeer.Asset) (int64, error) {
 	query := startViewsQuery(asset.PlaybackID, asset.PlaybackRecordingID)
+	return c.queryInt64(ctx, query)
+}
+
+func startViewsQuery(playbackID, playbackRecordingID string) string {
+	queryID := playbackID
+	if playbackRecordingID != "" {
+		queryID = fmt.Sprintf("(%s|%s)", playbackID, playbackRecordingID)
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf(
+		`sum(increase(mist_playux_count{strm=~"video(rec)?\\+%s"} [1y]))`,
+		queryID,
+	)
+}
+
+func (c *Prometheus) QueryRealtimeViews(ctx context.Context, userId string) (int64, error) {
+	query := fmt.Sprintf(`sum(mist_sessions{sessType="viewers", user_id="%s"})`, userId)
+	return c.queryInt64(ctx, query)
+}
+
+func (c *Prometheus) queryInt64(ctx context.Context, query string) (int64, error) {
 	value, warn, err := c.api.Query(ctx, query, time.Time{})
 	if len(warn) > 0 {
 		glog.Warningf("Prometheus query warnings: %q", warn)
@@ -51,14 +71,3 @@ func (c *Prometheus) QueryStartViews(ctx context.Context, asset *livepeer.Asset)
 	}
 	return int64(vec[0].Value), nil
 }
-
-func startViewsQuery(playbackID, playbackRecordingID string) string {
-	queryID := playbackID
-	if playbackRecordingID != "" {
-		queryID = fmt.Sprintf("(%s|%s)", playbackID, playbackRecordingID)
-	}
-	return fmt.Sprintf(
-		`sum(increase(mist_playux_count{strm=~"video(rec)?\\+%s"} [1y]))`,
-		queryID,
-	)
-}