Recording of television programming

Abstract

A video recording system that controls recording of television programming relating to sporting events to better match the intent of a user who specified programming for recording. The system merges data from an electronic program guide and sports data, such as from a news feed, to determine values of recording parameters, such as start and stop time and channel. User input may specify a player, team, league or other sports entity for which sporting events are to be recorded. The system may use the sports data to identify sporting events involving the specified sports entity and then access an electronic program guide to determine a channel on which to record the sporting events. When the user specifies a sporting event to record, sports data may be used to track progress of the event and dynamically adjust an ending time of the recording to ensure that the full event is recorded.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving user input identifying an entity;   receiving event data, the event data relating the entity to an event and independent of an electronic program guide, wherein the event data comprises a plurality of tags and each tag identifies a type of information provided by the event data; and   selecting a plurality of values of recording parameters based on the related event and the electronic program guide.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the event comprises a television program. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the event data comprises receiving a news report. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the event data indicates that a status of the event has changed, and wherein selecting the values of the recording parameters comprises dynamically adjusting the values of the recording parameters based on the indication that the status of the event has changed. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the status of the event comprises a start time of the event. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the status of the event comprises an end time of the event. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the status of the event comprises a channel associated with the event. 
     
     
         8 . A system comprising:
 a user interface;   a recording component;   an input component adapted to receive a program guide and event data, wherein the event data comprises a plurality of tags, wherein each tag identifies a type of information provided by the event data, and wherein the event data is independent of the program guide; and   at least one processor for:
 receiving a designation of an entity through the user interface; 
 merging the event data and the program guide; 
 based on the merged data, identifying a plurality of values of recording parameters for controlling the recording component to record television programming displaying an event involving the entity; and 
 controlling the recording component based on the identified values of the recording parameters. 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is further for receiving a designation of a plurality of events involving the entity; and wherein when the designation of the plurality of events is received, the identified values of the recording parameters comprise values for controlling the recording component to record television programming displaying one or more of the plurality of events involving the entity. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is further for determining the event by identifying from the event data an event involving the entity. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is further for presenting on the user interface a menu of user options for designating the event, the user interface presenting a user to select from among a group of recording options, the group comprising recording a single event, recording a series of events, and recording multiple events involving the entity. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein identifying values of recording parameters based on the merged data comprises determining a status of the event, and wherein the processor is further for selectively adjusting a recording time of the event specified in values of the recording parameters based on the status of the event. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the status of the event is that an end time of the event has changed. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the status of the event is that a start time of the event has changed. 
     
     
         15 . A computer readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions, that when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising:
 receiving a feed of event data, wherein the event data indicates progress of an event and the event data comprises a plurality of tags and each tag identifies a type of information provided by the event data; and   dynamically adjusting values of recording parameters for the event based on the indicated progress of the event.   
     
     
         16 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the event comprises a television program. 
     
     
         17 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the indicated progress indicates that an end time of the event has changed. 
     
     
         18 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the indicated progress indicates that a start time of the event has changed. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the feed comprises a news feed. 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the event data further indicates a change of a channel associated with the event, and wherein the instructions further perform dynamically adjusting values of recording parameters for the event based on the change of the channel associated with the event.