Adjusting recorder timing

Abstract

A portion of audio content of a multimedia program, such as a television program, is captured from a network. An audio fingerprint is generated based on the portion of audio content, and the audio fingerprint is matched to one of multiple theme song fingerprints stored in a database. An expected theme song time offset associated with the matched theme song fingerprint is retrieved from the database. It is determined whether the program is running on-schedule, based on the time the portion of audio content occurred, a scheduled start time of the program, and/or the expected theme song time offset. If it is determined that the program is running off-schedule, an adjusted start time and/or an adjusted end time of the program are calculated. The program is recorded by a recorder based on the adjusted start time and/or the adjusted end time.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A system for updating a media asset listing by using audio identification, the system comprising:
 a processor configured to:
 generate a signature based on audio content captured from a media asset at a given time; 
 cross-reference a database of signatures to identify an expected time associated with the generated signature; 
 determine whether the expected time associated with the signature matches the given time; and 
 modify the media asset listing associated with the media asset in response to determining the given time does not match the expected time. 
   
     
     
         22 . The system according to  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 capture a portion of the audio content from the media asset at the given time to generate the signature for the media asset; and   compare the generated signature the portion of audio content captured to a known signature in the database of signatures.   
     
     
         23 . The system according to  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 store an occurrence of the generated signature for the media asset, in response to cross-referencing the database of signatures to the generated signature; and   compare the occurrence of the generated signature to the media asset listing to determine whether the given time matches the expected time.   
     
     
         24 . The system according to  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine that a time of an occurrence of the generated signature for the media asset is below a predetermined threshold of the expected time; and   modify the media asset listing in response to determining that the time of the occurrence of the generated signature for the media asset is below the predetermined threshold of the expected time.   
     
     
         25 . The system according to  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine that a time of an occurrence of the generated signature for the media asset exceeds a predetermined threshold of the expected time; and   modify the media asset listing in response to determining that the time of the occurrence of the generated signature for the media asset exceeds the predetermined threshold of the expected time.   
     
     
         26 . The system according to  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 calculate at least one of a adjusted start time and a adjusted end time based on at least one of a scheduled start time of the media asset, a scheduled end time of the media asset, an expected theme song time offset of the media asset, and a theme song tolerance of the media asset.   
     
     
         27 . The system according to  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 retrieve, from the database of signatures, at least one of an expected theme song time offset of the media asset and a theme song tolerance of the media asset.   
     
     
         28 . The system according to  claim 27 , wherein at least one of the expected theme song time offset of the media asset, and the theme song tolerance of the media asset are computed based on statistics of previous broadcasts of the media asset. 
     
     
         29 . A method for updating a media asset listing by using audio identification, the method comprises:
 generating a signature based on audio content captured from a media asset at a given time;   cross-reference a database of signatures to identify an expected time associated with the generated signature;   determining whether the expected time associated with the signature matches the given time; and   modifying the media asset listing associated with the media asset in response to determining the given time does not match the expected time.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein updating a media asset listing by using audio identification further comprises:
 capturing a portion of the audio content from the media asset at the given time to generate the signature for the media asset; and   comparing the generated signature the portion of audio content captured to a known signature in the database of signatures.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein updating a media asset listing by using audio identification further comprises:
 storing an occurrence of the generated signature for the media asset, in response to cross-referencing the database of signatures to the generated signature; and   comparing the occurrence of the generated signature to the media asset listing to determine whether the given time matches the expected time.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein updating a media asset listing by using audio identification further comprises:
 determining that a time of an occurrence of the generated signature for the media asset is below a predetermined threshold of the expected time; and   modifying the media asset listing in response to determining that the time of the occurrence of the generated signature for the media asset is below the predetermined threshold of the expected time.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein updating a media asset listing by using audio identification further comprises:
 determining that a time of the occurrence of the generated signature for the media asset exceeds a predetermined threshold of the expected time; and   modifying the media asset listing in response to determining that the time of the occurrence of the generated signature for the media asset exceeds the predetermined threshold of the expected time.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein updating a media asset listing by using audio identification further comprises:
 calculating at least one of a adjusted start time and a adjusted end time based on at least one of a scheduled start time of the media asset, a scheduled end time of the media asset, an expected theme song time offset of the media asset, and a theme song tolerance of the media asset.   
     
     
         35 . The method  claim 29 , wherein updating a media asset listing by using audio identification further comprises:
 retrieving, from the database of signatures, at least one of an expected theme song time offset of the media asset and a theme song tolerance of the media asset.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein at least one of the expected theme song time offset of the media asset, and the theme song tolerance of the media asset are computed based on statistics of previous broadcasts of the media asset.