Television and multimedia viewing paradigm

Abstract

Improved methods and arrangements are provided for use in selecting candidate television and multimedia programs for recording, recording the candidate programs, viewing the recorded programs, and archiving the recorded programs. At the center of this capability is a time-dependent content buffering arrangement that allows candidate programs to be selected by an intelligent content agent, with the assistance of a bubbling agent, an electronic program guide, a select library listing, and/or a personal profile associated with a particular user. The buffering arrangement selectively records candidate programs in a non-circular manner. Candidate programs may be dropped during recording based on certain information associated with the program. For example, examination of closed captioning information may reveal that the candidate program does not match the initial criteria for making it a candidate program. The buffering arrangement also allows the user to selectively view recorded programs on demand and/or archive certain programs. Archived programs are maintained locally or otherwise stored to another media. Those recorded programs that are not archived will be erased in a time-dependent manner when a defined storage capacity is reached. The buffering arrangement also provides for feedback to various intelligent candidate-selecting agents, such as, e.g., an intelligent content agent and a bubbling agent.