Patent Publication Number: US-2011078174-A1

Title: Systems and methods for scheduling recordings using cross-platform data sources

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This application relates to interactive media guidance applications and more particularly to scheduling media asset actions (e.g., reminders for media assets, recordings for media assets, etc.). 
     Traditional systems automatically record suggested television programs by allowing a user to rate programs he/she has viewed, find programs that may be of interest to the user from a media guidance application database, and automatically record those programs. 
     The traditional systems, however, record programs based on a user&#39;s general interest with a television program, and not based on a user&#39;s specific interest of an artist. For example, a user may rate “How I Met Your Mother” with three thumbs up, and the traditional system may record “Friends” based on the fact that both shows are watched by a similar demographic. The traditional systems may have failed to realize that the user rates “How I Met Your Mother” highly because of the user&#39;s particular interest in Neil Patrick Harris (an actor on the television program). 
     Moreover, the traditional systems record the entire television program, while the user may only be interested in a segment of the television program in which the artist appears (e.g., Neil Patrick Harris appearing for an interview on The Jay Leno Show). 
     In certain cases, the media guidance application data from cable or satellite television providers is deficient. For instance, last minute schedule changes is not reflected in the schedule data in the schedule data. For example, breaking news segment that mentions Michael Jackson&#39;s death on the Today Show may not be reflected in the schedule data. In some instances, the program descriptions are not sufficiently granular to reflect all the details regarding the content of the show. For example, a cameo appearance on an episode of The Sopranos may not be described in the program description of the episode. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide systems and method for scheduling media asset actions (e.g., media asset reminders, media asset recordings, etc.) on media assets, based on a user&#39;s list of favored artists (e.g., actor/actress, band, celebrity, company employee etc.). In particular, it would be desirable to provide a system that obtains a list of artists that are favored by a user. Information is obtained from a website, where the obtained information indicates that one of the artists in the list is scheduled to perform during a particular time. In some embodiments, the information about the performance may be received from third-party websites hosted on a third-party web server. The information may be received via a defined application programming interface (API). In certain embodiments, the information about the performance is obtained by extracting information about the performance by parsing the textual data on a webpage of the website. In some embodiments, the website embeds schedule and/or non schedule information on the website by embedding the information in a format that a defined application programming interface is configured to accept. Based on the obtained information, a media asset action is scheduled for the identified media asset. 
     Based on the obtained information, a media asset associated with the scheduled performance of the artist is identified. The system then schedules for recording the identified media asset. In alternative embodiments, other media asset actions, such as scheduling a program reminder, may be performed on the identified media asset. As defined herein the term “media asset actions” may be media asset reminders, media asset recordings, etc., that are acted upon media assets. 
     As defined herein the term “artist” refers to any one or combination of: actor, actress, band, singer, celebrity, entertainer, director, producer, magazine editor, politician, reality TV show celebrity, news anchors, TV personality, cartoon character, comic book character, opera singer, consumer product, company, corporate employee, or any similar entities, or specific celebrities or persons. Also, as defined herein the term “perform” or “performance” refers to at least one of acting, speaking, discussing, featuring, dancing, playing music, and appearing in a video. 
     To obtain a list of artists that are favored by a user, the system receives user input specifying the artists that he/she favors. User input may be textual input and/or user selection. For instance, a user may specify a list of celebrities that he/she is interested in by selecting favored celebrities from a list of celebrities. The list of celebrities may be stored in a database. 
     Many websites contain information about artists, and specifically, some websites contain information about performances of the artist, for example, an appearance on a segment of a television program. The information about performances describes schedule and non-schedule information about the performance. To extract the information from a website, the textual data on a webpage of the website may be parsed for a key pattern. The information may include schedule or non-schedule information about the performance. For instance, the parsing may be performed by searching for key phrases that indicate schedule information about a performance (e.g., channel and broadcast time information). Regular expressions may be used to assist in parsing for certain keywords that contextually suggest part of the textual data is or is not describing a performance. 
     To obtain information about the performance from a website, information about the performance may be extracted from the website. In some embodiments, to obtain information from the website, a system may search for a website associated with one of the artists in the list of favored artists. Once a website associated with one of the artists is found from the search, the system extracts information from the associated website. The extracted information indicates that the one of the artists in the list is scheduled to perform during a particular time. Data sources in which information is obtained may not be limited to websites only, and may include syndication feeds such as RSS feeds, or email newsletters. 
     In some embodiments, the information about the performance is received directly from the web server hosting the website (or any other suitable third party web server). Via an application programming interface, the artist may communicate with the processing server by pushing schedule and/or non-schedule information to the processing server. In some embodiments, the processing server receives a notification from the web server hosting the website that new information about a performance is available. The processing server may pull the information about the performance from the website as instructed by the notification. 
     Schedule information may describe channel information and the start time of the performance. In one embodiment, schedule information further describes the duration of the performance. Non-schedule information may describe at least one of: name of the media asset associated with the performance and identity of the artist performing during the particular time. In one embodiment, the particular time may be the start time of the performance. In another embodiment, the particular time corresponds to a time interval within the media asset during which the artist starts performing. In some embodiments, the start time is accompanied with the duration of the performance. 
     To schedule for recording the identified media asset, the system may search in a schedule database of media assets for the media asset that corresponds to the obtained information. An appropriate command for a user equipment corresponding to the user to perform the recording of the media asset may be downloaded. The command is then sent to the user equipment to record the media asset. Other media asset actions such as setting a reminder may also be performed in a similar fashion. 
     In some embodiments, scheduling for recording may include causing a user equipment corresponding to the user to record the identified media asset. In certain embodiments, causing a user equipment corresponding to the user to record the identified media asset may include adding the recording on a stored list of scheduled recordings on the user equipment. In some embodiments, scheduling for recording the identified media asset may include sending a message to a user equipment corresponding to the user. 
     If the information obtained about the media asset has changed since the time when an existing recording was scheduled, the system may schedule for recording the identified media asset by updating an existing scheduled recording. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and in which: 
         FIGS. 1 and 2  show illustrative display screens that may be used to provide media guidance application listings in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  shows an illustrative user equipment device in accordance with another embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of an illustrative cross-platform interactive media system in accordance with another embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram of another illustrative cross-platform interactive media system in accordance with another embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a detailed diagram of the illustrative cross-platform interactive media system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 7  is an illustrative display of a screen for providing a list of favored artists in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; 
         FIGS. 8 and 9  are two illustrative displays of a website at two different times where information is obtained in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 10  is an exemplary data structure for data extracted from a website in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 11  is an exemplary data structure for a media asset corresponding to the data extracted from the website in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 12  is an exemplary data structure for a message sent to user equipment in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; 
         FIGS. 13-16  are four illustrative displays of a scheduled recordings screen in accordance with various embodiments of the invention; 
         FIG. 17  is an illustrative display of a scheduled upcoming shows screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 18  is an illustrative display of a program reminder in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIGS. 19-28  are illustrative flow diagrams for scheduling for recording a media asset in accordance with embodiments of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     The amount of media available to users in any given media delivery system may be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form of media guidance through an interface that allows users to efficiently navigate through media selections and easily identify media content that they may desire. An application which provides such guidance is referred to herein as an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, a media guidance application or a guidance application. 
     Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms depending on the media for which they provide guidance. One typical type of media guidance application is an interactive television program guide. Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to as electronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that, among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many types of media content including conventional television programming (provided via traditional broadcast, cable, satellite, Internet, or other means), as well as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming media, downloadable media, Webcasts, etc.), recorded programs, and other types of media or video content. Guidance applications also allow users to navigate among and locate content related to the video content including, for example, video clips, articles, advertisements, chat sessions, games, etc. Guidance applications also allow users to navigate among and locate multimedia content. The term multimedia is defined herein as media and content that utilizes at least two different content forms, such as text, audio, still images, animation, video, and interactivity content forms. Multimedia content may be recorded and played, displayed or accessed by information content processing devices, such as computerized and electronic devices, but may also be part of a live performance. It should be understood that the invention embodiments that are described in relation to media or media content are also applicable to other types of content, such as video, audio and/or multimedia. 
     With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speed wireless networks, users are accessing media on personal computers (PCs) and other devices on which they traditionally did not, such as hand-held computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile telephones, smart phones, netbooks, or other mobile devices. On these devices users are able to navigate among and locate the same media available through a television. Consequently, media guidance is necessary on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be for media content available only through a television, for media content available only through one or more of these devices, or for media content available both through a television and one or more of these devices. The media guidance applications may be provided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or as stand-alone applications or clients on hand-held computers, PDAs, mobile telephones, or other mobile devices. The various devices and platforms that may implement media guidance applications are described in more detail below. 
     One of the functions of the media guidance application is to provide media listings and media information to users.  FIGS. 1 and 2  show illustrative display screens that may be used to provide media guidance, and in particular media listings. The display screens shown in  FIGS. 1-2 ,  7 - 9  and  13 - 18  may be implemented on any suitable device or platform. As defined herein, platform refers to any system that may support the operation of an interactive media guidance application. While the displays of  FIGS. 1-2 ,  7 - 9  and  13 - 18  are illustrated as full screen displays, they may also be fully or partially overlaid over media content being displayed. A user may indicate a desire to access media information by selecting a selectable option provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, a listings option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicated button (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user input interface or device. In response to the user&#39;s indication, the media guidance application may provide a display screen with media information organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in a grid, by time, by channel, by media type, by category (e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories of programming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organization criteria. 
       FIG. 1  shows illustrative grid program listings display  100  arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different types of media content in a single display. Display  100  may include grid  102  with: (1) a column of channel/media type identifiers  104 , where each channel/media type identifier (which is a cell in the column) identifies a different channel or media type available; and (2) a row of time identifiers  106 , where each time identifier (which is a cell in the row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid  102  also includes cells of program listings, such as program listing  108 , where each listing provides the title of the program provided on the listing&#39;s associated channel and time. With a user input device, a user may select program listings by moving highlight region  110 . Information relating to the program listing selected by highlight region  110  may be provided in program information region  112 . Region  112  may include, for example, the program title, the program description, the time the program is provided (if applicable), the channel the program is on (if applicable), the program&#39;s rating, and other desired information. 
     In addition to providing access to linear programming provided according to a schedule, the media guidance application also provides access to non-linear programming which is not provided according to a schedule. Non-linear programming may include content from different media sources including on-demand media content (e.g., VOD), media content stored on a networked/remote storage digital video recorder (network DVR or RSDVR), Internet content (e.g., streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored media content (e.g., video content stored on a digital video recorder (DVR), digital video disc (DVD), video cassette, compact disc (CD), etc.), or other time-insensitive media content. On-demand content may include both movies and original media content provided by a particular media provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time Warner Company L. P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM are trademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content may include web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or content available on-demand as streaming media or downloadable media through an Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g., FTP). 
     Grid  102  may provide listings for non-linear programming including on-demand listing  114 , recorded media listing  116 , and Internet content listing  118 . A display combining listings for content from different types of media sources is sometimes referred to as a “mixed-media” display. The various permutations of the types of listings that may be displayed that are different than display  100  may be based on user selection or guidance application definition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings, only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings  114 ,  116 , and  118  are shown as spanning the entire time block displayed in grid  102  to indicate that selection of these listings may provide access to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings, or Internet listings, respectively. In other embodiments, listings for these media types may be included directly in grid  102 . Additional listings may be displayed in response to the user selecting one of the navigational icons  120 . (Pressing an arrow key on a user input device may affect the display in a similar manner as selecting navigational icons  120 .) 
     Display  100  may also include video region  122 , advertisement  124 , and options region  126 . Video region  122  may allow the user to view and/or preview programs that are currently available, will be available, or were available to the user. The content of video region  122  may correspond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed in grid  102 . Grid displays including a video region are sometimes referred to as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and their functionalities are described in greater detail in Satterfield et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. PIG displays may be included in other media guidance application display screens of the present invention. 
     Advertisement  124  may provide an advertisement for media content that, depending on a viewer&#39;s access rights (e.g., for subscription programming), is currently available for viewing, will be available for viewing in the future, or may never become available for viewing, and may correspond to or be unrelated to one or more of the media listings in grid  102 . Advertisement  124  may also be for products or services related or unrelated to the media content displayed in grid  102 . Advertisement  124  may be selectable and provide further information about media content, provide information about a product or a service, enable purchasing of media content, a product, or a service, provide media content relating to the advertisement, etc. Advertisement  124  may be targeted based on a user&#39;s profile/preferences, monitored user activity, the type of display provided, or on other suitable targeted advertisement bases. 
     While advertisement  124  is shown as rectangular or banner shaped, advertisements may be provided in any suitable size, shape, and location in a guidance application display. For example, advertisement  124  may be provided as a rectangular shape that is horizontally adjacent to grid  102 . This is sometimes referred to as a panel advertisement. In addition, advertisements may be overlaid over media content or a guidance application display screen or embedded within a display screen. Advertisements may also include text, images, rotating images, video clips, or other types of media content. Advertisements may be stored in the user equipment with the guidance application, in a database connected to the user equipment, in a remote location (including streaming media servers), or on other storage means or a combination of these locations. Providing advertisements in a media guidance application is discussed in greater detail in, for example, Knudson et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/347,673, filed Jan. 17, 2003, Ward, III et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,997, issued Jun. 29, 2004, and Schein et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,714, issued May 14, 2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. It will be appreciated that advertisements may be included in other media guidance application display screens of the present invention. 
     Options region  126  may allow the user to access different types of media content, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidance application features. Options region  126  may be part of display  100  (and other display screens of the present invention), or may be invoked by a user by selecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignable button on a user input device. The selectable options within options region  126  may concern features related to program listings in grid  102  or may include options available from a main menu display. Features related to program listings may include searching for other air times or ways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling series recording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite, purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a main menu display may include search options, VOD options, parental control options, access to various types of listing displays, subscribe to a premium service, edit a user&#39;s profile, access a browse overlay, or other options. 
     Media guidance application features that may be available through options region  126 , or any other suitable selectable options in any other suitable display (e.g., display  200  of  FIG. 2 ), may include, for example, music and interactive game applications. Music applications may be located remotely as on-line music applications or may be stored locally on the user&#39;s media guidance equipment (e.g., storage  308  of  FIG. 3 ). Music applications may allow a user to, for example, download music, listen to and/or preview music, organize music libraries, and search for music related to other media guidance information (e.g., music related to program listings in grid  102  of  FIG. 1 ). Interactive game applications may allow a user to, for example, download and play interactive games within the media guidance application. The interactive games may be related to or independent from other media located within the media guidance application. There may be any number of other interactive applications that are accessible via an interactive media guidance application, and these applications may contain content that is complimentary to, or distinct from content provided by the interactive media guidance application. 
     The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user&#39;s preferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user to customize displays and features to create a personalized “experience” with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may be created by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by the media guidance application monitoring user activity to determine various user preferences. Users may access their personalized guidance application by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to the guidance application. Customization of the media guidance application may be made in accordance with a user profile, which may be customized for each user who interacts with the media guidance application. The customizations may include varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays, font size of text, etc.), aspects of media content listings displayed (e.g., only HDTV programming, user-specified broadcast channels based on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display of channels, recommended media content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g., recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality, etc.), parental control settings, and other desired customizations. 
     The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profile information or may automatically compile user profile information. The media guidance application may, for example, monitor the media the user accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with the media guidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application may obtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to a particular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the user accesses, such as www.tvguide.com, from other media guidance applications the user accesses, from other interactive applications the user accesses, from a handheld device of the user, etc.), and/or obtain information about the user from other sources that the media guidance application may access. As a result, a user may be provided with a unified guidance application experience across the user&#39;s different devices. This type of user experience is described in greater detail below in connection with  FIG. 4 . Additional personalized media guidance application features are described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/179,410, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/437,304, filed Nov. 9, 1999, and Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/105,128, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. 
     Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown in  FIG. 2 . Video mosaic display  200  includes selectable options  202  for media content information organized based on media type, genre, and/or other organization criteria. In display  200 , listings  206 ,  208 ,  210 , and  212  may be provided, for example, as broadcast program listings. Unlike the listings from  FIG. 1 , the listings in display  200  are not limited to simple text (e.g., the program title) and icons to describe media. Rather, in display  200  the listings may provide graphical images including cover art, still images from the media content, video clip previews, live video from the media content, advertisements, or other types of media that indicate to a user the media content being described by the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also be accompanied by text to provide further information about the media content associated with the listing. For example, listing  208  may include more than one region, including media region  214  and text region  216 . Media region  214  and/or text region  216  may be selectable to view video in full-screen or to view program listings related to the video displayed in media region  214  (e.g., to view listings for the channel that the video is displayed on). 
     The listings in display  200  are of different sizes (i.e., listing  206  is larger than listings  208 ,  210 , and  212 ), but if desired, all the listings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes or graphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user or to emphasize certain content, as desired by the media provider or based on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphically accentuating media listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/324,202, filed Dec. 29, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     Users may access media content and the media guidance application (and its display screens described above and below) from one or more of their user equipment devices.  FIG. 3  shows a generalized embodiment of illustrative user equipment device  300 . More specific implementations of user equipment devices are discussed below in connection with  FIG. 4 . User equipment device  300  may receive media content and data via input/output (hereinafter “I/O”) path  302 . I/O path  302  may provide media content (e.g., broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, and other video or audio) and data to control circuitry  304 , which includes processing circuitry  306  and storage  308 . Control circuitry  304  may be used to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable data using I/O path  302 . I/O path  302  may connect control circuitry  304  (and specifically processing circuitry  306 ) to one or more communications paths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a single path in  FIG. 3  to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. 
     Control circuitry  304  may be based on any suitable processing circuitry  306  such as processing circuitry based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices, etc. In some embodiments, control circuitry  304  executes instructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e., storage  308 ). In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry  304  may include communications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidance application server or other networks or servers. Communications circuitry may include a cable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment. Such communications may involve the Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths (which is described in more detail in connection with  FIG. 4 ). In addition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enables peer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communication of user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (described in more detail below). 
     Memory (e.g., random-access memory, read-only memory, or any other suitable memory), hard drives, optical drives, or any other suitable fixed or removable storage devices (e.g., DVD recorder, CD recorder, video cassette recorder, or other suitable recording device) may be provided as storage  308  that is part of control circuitry  304 . Storage  308  may include one or more of the above types of storage devices. For example, user equipment device  300  may include a hard drive for a DVR (sometimes called a personal video recorder, or PVR) and a DVD recorder as a secondary storage device. Storage  308  may be used to store various types of media described herein and guidance application data, including program information, guidance application settings, user preferences or profile information, or other data used in operating the guidance application. Nonvolatile memory may also be used (e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). 
     Control circuitry  304  may include video generating circuitry and tuning circuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2 decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, or any other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of such circuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog, or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided. Control circuitry  304  may also include scaler circuitry for upconverting and downconverting media into the preferred output format of the user equipment  300 . Circuitry  304  may also include digital-to-analog converter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry for converting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encoding circuitry may be used by the user equipment to receive and to display, to play, or to record media content. The tuning and encoding circuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitry described herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding, scaler, and analog/digital circuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or more general purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may be provided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and record functions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording, etc.). If storage  308  is provided as a separate device from user equipment  300 , the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multiple tuners) may be associated with storage  308 . 
     A user may control the control circuitry  304  using user input interface  310 . User input interface  310  may be any suitable user interface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard, touch screen, touch pad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognition interface, or other user input interfaces. Display  312  may be provided as a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of user equipment device  300 . Display  312  may be one or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD) for a mobile device, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images. In some embodiments, display  312  may be HDTV-capable. Speakers  314  may be provided as integrated with other elements of user equipment device  300  or may be stand-alone units. The audio component of videos and other media content displayed on display  312  may be played through speakers  314 . In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to a receiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers  314 . 
     The guidance application may be implemented using any suitable architecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone application wholly implemented on user equipment device  300 . In such an approach, instructions of the application are stored locally, and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodic basis (e.g., from the VBI of a television channel, from an out-of-band feed, or using another suitable approach). In another embodiment, the media guidance application is a client-server based application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented on user equipment device  300  is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests to a server remote to the user equipment device  300 . In one example of a client-server based guidance application, control circuitry  304  runs a web browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. 
     In yet other embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded and interpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (run by control circuitry  304 ). In some embodiments, the guidance application may be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received by control circuitry  304  as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by a user agent running on control circuitry  304 . For example, the guidance application may be a EBIF widget. In other embodiments, the guidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files that are received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitable middleware executed by control circuitry  304 . In some of such embodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital media encoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encoded and transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio and video packets of a program. 
     User equipment device  300  of  FIG. 3  can be implemented in system  400  of  FIG. 4  as user television equipment  402 , user computer equipment  404 , wireless user communications device  406 , or any other type of user equipment suitable for accessing media, such as a non-portable gaming machine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to herein collectively as user equipment or user equipment devices. User equipment devices, on which a media guidance application is implemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of a network of devices. Various network configurations of devices may be implemented and are discussed in more detail below. 
     User television equipment  402  may include a set-top box, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellite television, a television set, a digital storage device, a DVD recorder, a video-cassette recorder (VCR), a local media server, or other user television equipment. One or more of these devices may be integrated to be a single device, if desired. User computer equipment  404  may include a PC, a laptop, a tablet, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PC media server, a PC media center, or other user computer equipment. WEBTV is a trademark owned by Microsoft Corp. Wireless user communications device  406  may include PDAs, a mobile telephone, a portable video player, a portable music player, a portable gaming machine, or other wireless devices. 
     It should be noted that with the advent of television tuner cards for PC&#39;s, WebTV, and the integration of video into other user equipment devices, the lines have become blurred when trying to classify a device as one of the above devices. In fact, each of user television equipment  402 , user computer equipment  404 , and wireless user communications device  406  may utilize at least some of the system features described above in connection with  FIG. 3  and, as a result, include flexibility with respect to the type of media content available on the device. For example, user television equipment  402  may be Internet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while user computer equipment  404  may include a tuner allowing for access to television programming. The media guidance application may also have the same layout on the various different types of user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of the user equipment. For example, on user computer equipment, the guidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a web browser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled down for wireless user communications devices. 
     In system  400 , there is typically more than one of each type of user equipment device but only one of each is shown in  FIG. 4  to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize more than one type of user equipment device (e.g., a user may have a television set and a computer) and also more than one of each type of user equipment device (e.g., a user may have a PDA and a mobile telephone and/or multiple television sets). 
     The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent media guidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices. Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and program favorites, programming preferences that the guidance application utilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, and other desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channel as a favorite on, for example, the web site www.tvguide.com on their personal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as a favorite on the user&#39;s in-home devices (e.g., user television equipment and user computer equipment) as well as the user&#39;s mobile devices, if desired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can change the guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless of whether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device. In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user, as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application. 
     The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network  414 . Namely, user television equipment  402 , user computer equipment  404 , and wireless user communications device  406  are coupled to communications network  414  via communications paths  408 ,  410 , and  412 , respectively. Communications network  414  may be one or more networks including the Internet, a mobile phone network, mobile device (e.g., Blackberry) network, cable network, public switched telephone network, or other types of communications network or combinations of communications networks. BLACKBERRY is a service mark owned by Research In Motion Limited Corp. Paths  408 ,  410 , and  412  may separately or together include one or more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-optic path, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g., IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wireless signals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path or combination of such paths. Path  412  is drawn with dotted lines to indicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in  FIG. 4  it is a wireless path and paths  408  and  410  are drawn as solid lines to indicate they are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, if desired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be provided by one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a single path in  FIG. 4  to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. 
     Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipment devices, these devices may communicate directly with each other via communication paths, such as those described above in connection with paths  408 ,  410 , and  412 , as well other short-range point-to-point communication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wireless paths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or other short-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is a certification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipment devices may also communicate with each other directly through an indirect path via communications network  414 . 
     System  400  includes media content source  416  and media guidance data source  418  coupled to communications network  414  via communication paths  420  and  422 , respectively. Paths  420  and  422  may include any of the communication paths described above in connection with paths  408 ,  410 , and  412 . Communications with the media content source  416  and media guidance data source  418  may be exchanged over one or more communications paths, but are shown as a single path in  FIG. 4  to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of media content source  416  and media guidance data source  418 , but only one of each is shown in  FIG. 4  to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The different types of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, media content source  416  and media guidance data source  418  may be integrated as one source device. Although communications between sources  416  and  418  with user equipment devices  402 ,  404 , and  406  are shown as through communications network  414 , in some embodiments, sources  416  and  418  may communicate directly with user equipment devices  402 ,  404 , and  406  via communication paths (not shown) such as those described above in connection with paths  408 ,  410 , and  412 . 
     Media content source  416  may include one or more types of media distribution equipment including a television distribution facility, cable system headend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g., television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediate distribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demand media servers, and other media content providers. NBC is a trademark owned by the National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by the ABC, INC., and HBO is a trademark owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Media content source  416  may be the originator of media content (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) or may not be the originator of media content (e.g., an on-demand media content provider, an Internet provider of video content of broadcast programs for downloading, etc.). Media content source  416  may include cable sources, satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers, or other providers of media content. Media content source  416  may also include a remote media server used to store different types of media content (including video content selected by a user), in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems and methods for remote storage of media content, and providing remotely stored media content to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connection with Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/332,244, filed Jun. 11, 1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     Media guidance data source  418  may provide media guidance data, such as media listings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcast channels, media titles, media descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parental control ratings, critic&#39;s ratings, etc.), genre or category information, actor information, logo data for broadcasters&#39; or providers&#39; logos, etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, etc.), advertisement information (e.g., text, images, media clips, etc.), on-demand information, and any other type of guidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locate desired media selections. 
     Media guidance application data may be provided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. In some embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-alone interactive television program guide that receives program guide data via a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed, trickle feed, or data in the vertical blanking interval of a channel). 
     Program schedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the user equipment on a television channel sideband, in the vertical blanking interval of a television channel, using an in-band digital signal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitable data transmission technique. Program schedule data and other guidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog or digital television channels. Program schedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the user equipment with any suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specified period of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to a request from user equipment, etc.). In some approaches, guidance data from media guidance data source  418  may be provided to users&#39; equipment using a client-server approach. For example, a guidance application client residing on the user&#39;s equipment may initiate sessions with source  418  to obtain guidance data when needed. Media guidance data source  418  may provide user equipment devices  402 ,  404 , and  406  the media guidance application itself or software updates for the media guidance application. 
     Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-alone applications implemented on user equipment devices. In other embodiments, media guidance applications may be client-server applications where only the client resides on the user equipment device. For example, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as a client application on control circuitry  304  of user equipment device  300  and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., media guidance data source  418 ). The guidance application displays may be generated by the media guidance data source  418  and transmitted to the user equipment devices. The media guidance data source  418  may also transmit data for storage on the user equipment, which then generates the guidance application displays based on instructions processed by control circuitry. 
     Media guidance system  400  is intended to illustrate a number of approaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devices and sources of media content and guidance data may communicate with each other for the purpose of accessing media and providing media guidance. The present invention may be applied in any one or a subset of these approaches, or in a system employing other approaches for delivering media and providing media guidance. The following three approaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example of  FIG. 4 . 
     In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each other within a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with each other directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemes describe above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similar device provided on a home network, or via communications network  414 . Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate different user equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may be desirable for various media guidance information or settings to be communicated between the different user equipment devices. For example, it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidance application settings on different user equipment devices within a home network, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/179,410, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types of user equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with each other to transmit media content. For example, a user may transmit media content from user computer equipment to a portable video player or portable music player. 
     In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment by which they access media content and obtain media guidance. For example, some users may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobile devices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidance application implemented on a remote device. For example, users may access an online media guidance application on a website via a personal computer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA or web-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g., recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidance application to control the user&#39;s in-home equipment. The online guide may control the user&#39;s equipment directly, or by communicating with a media guidance application on the user&#39;s in-home equipment. Various systems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where the user equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, is discussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/927,814, filed Aug. 26, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outside a home can use their media guidance application to communicate directly with media content source  416  to access media content. Specifically, within a home, users of user television equipment  404  and user computer equipment  406  may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locate desirable media content. Users may also access the media guidance application outside of the home using wireless user communications devices  406  to navigate among and locate desirable media content. 
     It will be appreciated that while the discussion of media content has focused on video content, the principles of media guidance can be applied to other types of media content, such as music, images, etc. 
     While traditional systems may obtain updates or information about media asset and/or performances from media guidance source  610 , it may be advantageous to obtain updates or information about media asset and/or performances from other sources, such as websites, RSS feeds, twitter, blogs, web servers, or any suitable source of information about media assets and/or performances. For instance, the information obtained from these sources may provide the latest update on performances, thereby providing a richer feature to help users access media assets and/or performances in a cross-platform environment. 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram of another illustrative cross-platform interactive media system in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. Details regarding the system is discussed at length in relation to  FIG. 6 . A modification or variation of system  400  may be implemented as system  500  as shown in  FIG. 5 . In this embodiment, user equipment  504  associated with a particular user, web server  520 , website  506 , processing server  508 , and media guidance data source  510  are communicably connected via paths  512 ,  514 ,  516  and  518  over communications network  502 . Details regarding communications network  502  is discussed in relation to communications network  414 . 
     Details regarding user equipment  504  is discussed in relation to user television equipment  402  and  FIG. 6 . In some embodiments, user equipment  504  may include recording equipment for recording media assets and user interface/input equipment for obtaining a list of favored artists from a user. For instance, user equipment  504  may be a set top box, a mobile device, or a personal computer. In some other embodiments, media assets are recorded in a remote server (not shown) accessible by user equipment  504 . For instance, a television program may be recorded and stored remotely from user equipment  504 . The user equipment may download and access the television program remotely to consume the media asset. 
     Web server  520  or a plurality of distributed web servers provides website  506  and is configured to provide at least one website over communications network  502  via path  514 . For example, website  506  may be http://www.metallica.com. Each website, such as website  506  has at least one webpage. For instance, website  506  may have a “home” page, a “contact us” page, and a “news” page. Processing server  508  may access website  506  and web server  520  via path  516  and  514  over communications network  502 . For example, processing server  508  may access website  506  and web server  620  via a TCP/IP connection over the Internet. 
     Details regarding media guidance data source  510  is discussed in relation to media guidance data source  418  and  FIG. 6 . In some embodiments, media guidance data source  418  that includes schedule data is searchable based on information extracted from website  506 . For example, media guidance data source  418  may be a database that includes a collection of data about television programs broadcasted to households in Upstate New York that uses Comcast. The data may include schedule and/or non-schedule information about media assets (e.g., television programs, movies, on demand programs, radio programs, music, etc.) 
     Processing server  508  includes at least one server for downloading webpages and/or other data from web server  520 , and extracting information about performances (e.g., using a parser to extract information from an HTML file). In one embodiment, processing server  508  identifies an artist in the list of favored artists, and then retrieves particular webpage(s) in website  506  to extract relevant information about performances of the artist (e.g., using regular expressions to look for keywords on a webpage). In one embodiment, processing server  508  periodically accesses website  506  for new information about performances (e.g., every day, every hour, or twice a day). In another embodiment, processing server  508  receives information from website  506  about new information regarding performances (e.g., when the content of a website has been updated, or when a new blog post has been published on an Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feed). For instance, website  506  may communicate information about performances by sending a communication to processing server  508 . Website  506  may provide the information to processing server  508  via a defined application programming interface. For instance, the application programming interface may accept a document/file that uses a defined XML template (an example of a suitable application programming interface), requiring website  506  to provide certain attributes of schedule and/or non-schedule information. An example of an XML file is described at length in relation to  FIG. 10 . After receiving the communication from website  506 , processing server  508  may parse the XML document/file for schedule and/or non-schedule information about the performance, such that a media asset may be identified. Any suitable mechanism or application programming interface may be used to allow communication between website  506  and processing server  508 . In some embodiments, website  506  may send a notification to processing server  508  to inform processing server  508  that new information about a performance is available. In some embodiment, website  506  may include the location of the new information in the notification. The location may be a particular webpage of a website (e.g., website  506 ), a web server, a database, or any suitable data source. 
     Processing server  508  may process the new information by extracting information about performances. In certain embodiments, processing server  508  actively searches and/or retrieves information from website  506  based on a known list of favored artists, and/or also passively receives information from website  506  about performances (such as updates sent from web server  520 . Processing server  508  may matching the information against the known list(s) of favored artists). 
     Once new information about a performance of an artist in the list of favored artists has been identified from website  506 , processing server  508  may communicate with media guidance data source  510  via path  516  over communications network  502  and path  518  to search for and identify the corresponding media asset. For example, processing server  508  may send a message to media guidance data source  510  to query its database (not shown). Media guidance data source  510  may include a set of standardized media asset data that can be understood by user equipment  504  and/or processing server  508  to perform a media asset action, such as scheduling a recording. Media guidance data source  510 , or another data source may further include commands and/or messages suitable for causing a media asset action to occur. 
     An media asset action may then invoked on the identified media asset by activating the media asset action on user equipment  504 . For example, a recording (i.e., media asset action) of “Seinfeld airing on TBS at 4:05 p.m. on Aug. 25, 2009” (i.e., identified media asset) is invoked. Examples of media asset actions are discussed in relation to and shown in  FIGS. 13-18 . The activation of the media asset action may be performed by processing server  508  by communicating with user equipment  504  over path  516  and  512  through communications network  502 . For example, processing server  508  may send a command to user equipment  504  over the Internet. 
     The media asset action may include any combination of: setting up a reminder for the media asset, downloading the media asset, scheduling a recording of the media asset to record the media asset on user equipment, displaying the media asset as an available media asset on an interactive media guidance application, sending an message regarding the media asset to user equipment  504 , or any suitable media asset action. Various methods used for scheduling an media asset action are discussed in relation  FIGS. 19-27 . 
     While  FIG. 5  is described in relation to a single user, system  500  may be configured as a multi-user system. User interests from a plurality of users may be aggregated to create a master list(s) of favored artists. System  500  may utilize a centralized processing server, such as processing server  508 , to process information about performance(s) of an artist for a plurality of devices. Alternatively, each user equipment may process information about performance(s) in a distributed fashion (without using a centralized processing method and/or system). System  500  may be configured to receive a list of favored artists from multiple users originating from a plurality of devices. System  500  may also receive information from a plurality of websites in parallel. System  500  may be configured process the information received in parallel. System  500  may be implemented in a distributed fashion such as various methods and processes may be executed in parallel for efficiency. 
       FIG. 6  is a detailed diagram of the illustrative cross-platform interactive media system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. User equipment  602 , web server  604 , website  636 , processing server  608 , media guidance data source  610 , communications network  606 , paths  612 ,  614 ,  616 ,  618  have been briefly described in relation to  FIG. 5 . 
     User equipment  602  to which the media asset action may be targeted may include processor  620 , input  622 , display  624 , memory  626 , communications device  628 , recording equipment  630 , monitor circuitry  632 . User equipment  602  may be a personal computer, a set top box, a laptop, a cell phone, or any suitable user equipment device and/or system the same or similar to media equipment device  300  ( FIG. 3 ). Processor  620  may be any general processor or application-specific processor suitable for performing computations necessary to carry out functions of user equipment  602 . Memory  626  may work in conjunction processor  620  to perform the functions of user equipment  602 . Memory and processor may include cache storage. 
     User equipment  602  may obtain a list of artists that are favored by a user via input  622  and display  624 . An example user interface is described in relation to and shown in  FIG. 7 . It is noted that, user equipment  602  may or may not include equipment to which the media asset action is targeted. In one embodiment, user equipment for obtaining a list of artists favored by a user may be a set top box, and the user equipment for performing scheduled recordings may be a personal computer. In yet another embodiment, the scheduled recordings may be performed on the same set top box on which the list of favored artists was obtained. 
     Input  622  may be any suitable user input device for receiving user input, such a mouse, keyboard, haptic input, touch screen, vocal input, remote control, game controller, etc. A user interface may be generated by monitor circuitry  632  and may be displayed on display  624 . Interface  700  may be generated by an interactive media guidance application or any application running on user equipment  602 . Interface  700  may also be a webpage generated by a web server configured to collect user input from a user. 
     Display  624  may be a projection-type TV, an LCD TV, or an LED TV, or any suitable display equipment for displaying screens to a user. Communications device  628  may be configured to allow user equipment  602  to communicate with other devices on communications network  606 , such as via the Internet. Communications device  628  may be an Ethernet card, a modem, or any suitable communications device. 
     Recording equipment  630  may be a video cassette recorder, volatile memory storage, a hard disk, a solid state drive, a dvd writer, a cd writer, a blu-ray disk writer, or any suitable device for recording media assets. Recording equipment  630  may be configured to receive commands via communications device  628  from other devices on the network. An example of a command is discussed in relation to and shown in  FIG. 12 . Alternatively, recording equipment  630  may be controlled and commanded processor  620  of user equipment  602 . 
     Web server  604  includes communications device  634 , processor  638  and memory  640 , which are described in relation to communications device  628  processor  620  and memory  626 . Web server  604  further includes website  636 , as discussed in relation to website  506 . Website  636  includes an application, such as .NET or Apache, running on processor  630  configured to receive, process, and respond to requests from users for webpages. Website  636  includes at least one webpage accessible to devices connected to communications network  502  via path  514 . Activity such as access and requests to webpages may be logged and such a log may be stored in memory  640 . 
     Webpages may be implemented in HTML, Perl, php, SQL, ASP.NET, ajax, or any programming and/or markup language in any suitable framework for delivering web content. Web server  520  may be configured to process web requests to provide web pages to other devices connected on communications network  502 . In some embodiments, web server  520  broadcasts and/or distributes data (e.g., RSS feeds) to other devices connected on communications network  502 . Memory  640  may store databases that provide data for website  636 . Memory  640  may also provide a storage medium for storing webpages. 
     Website  636  may contain information regarding performances of artists. Website  636  may be an official website of an artist, a news website, a gossip website, a twitter page, or any website that may contain information about artists and/or performances. In some embodiments, website  636  may be a website about a plurality of artists, such as a website about movie stars. In one embodiment, website  636  may be a blog. In another embodiment, website  636  may be a content aggregator that collects and presents data from a plurality of sources. In yet another embodiment, website  636  may be a website for a television program. In another embodiment, website  636  may be a website of a local television programming provider. 
     Information indicating that one of the artists in the list of favored artists may be obtained from website  636  and its webpages. For example, a twitter web page may announce that an artist is schedule to appear on ABC on Sep. 3, 2009. The information may be extracted from the twitter web page. Example screens of a website is shown in and discussed in relation to  FIGS. 8 and 9 . Example data extracted from website  636  is shown in and discussed in relation to  FIG. 10 . 
     Web server  604  may also be configured to implement communication services such as email, text messaging, instant messaging, video conferencing, voice over IP (VOIP), or voice mail. Web server  604  may also be configured as a file server, such as an FTP or SVN, capable of providing access, management, and storage of data and/or files. Various functionalities of web server  604  may be requested by remote devices on communications network  502 . 
     Media guidance data source  610  may be configured to provide access and storage of media guidance data, where the media guidance data may include information and/or metadata about a plurality of media assets. Media guidance data source  610  includes communications device  648  and database  650 . Communications device  648  is discussed in relation to communications device  628 , and is configured to allow other devices connected to communications network  606  to communicate with media guidance data source via path  618 . Implementation details about media guidance data source  610  is discussed at length in relation to  FIGS. 4 and 5 . An example data structure of media guidance data stored in database  650  is shown in and described in relation to  FIG. 11 . 
     Processing server  608  may be configured to maintain a user&#39;s list(s) of favored artists and identifying information from a website about a performance by one of the artists in the list. Processing server  608  may identify the corresponding media asset in media guidance data source  610 . For example, if plain text “Bill Clinton will appear on Sesame Street this Sunday”, processing server  608  may search/query the media guidance data source  610  for Sesame Street airing on the upcoming Sunday, identifying the channel and time of the show. By identifying the media asset in media guidance data source  610 , processing server  608  has sufficient and adequate information to schedule an action associated with the media asset (e.g., identified media asset provides schedule information for processing server  608  to schedule a recording). Processing server  608  may schedule a media asset action on user equipment  602  (e.g., a program reminder is scheduled for “The Colbert Report” series). Functionalities of processing server  608  may be separately implemented on multiple devices or processing servers. In some embodiments, some or all functionalities may be implemented on devices such as user equipment  602  or web server  604 . 
       FIG. 7  is an illustrative display of a screen for providing a list of favored artists in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Interface  700  may be shown on display  624  via monitor circuitry  632 , and may be generated by processor  620 . Interface  700  may be generated by an interactive media guidance application or an application running on user equipment  608 . Interface  700  may also depict a screen shot of a web page viewable on user equipment  602 , and configured to receive user input. Using input  622 , a user may provide input to user equipment  602  about his/her preferences. In one embodiment, a user provides a list of artists that are favored by a user via interface  700 . For instance, a user, Tom, may click on checkbox  702  to indicate that Tom likes Slipknot. Alternatively, Tom may type in “Pink Floyd” into textbox to indicate that Tom enjoys Pink Floyd. 
     Interface  700  may be implemented on a standalone application running on user equipment  602 , such as an interactive media guidance application. Interface  700  may also be a web-based application. Information collected from interface  700  may be stored in memory  626  or sent to processing server  608  for storage in memory  624 . Alternatively, information collected may be stored and maintained in another device not shown in  FIG. 6 . Screen  700  is illustrative, other questions or design of interfaces may be used to achieve the same purpose of collecting user interests in various artists. 
     A user may be asked once about his/her interests in artists, or may be asked to provide information at different times. For example, the user may be asked about his or her interests when he or she is using user equipment  602  for the first time. The user may also be asked to confirm his or her interest during the course of using user equipment  602 . If the system infers that the user may like the band “Red Hot Chili Peppers”, the user may be prompted to confirm whether he/she likes “Red Hot Chili Peppers”. In some embodiments, a user&#39;s preferences may be learned and/or inferred over time based on a user&#39;s interactions and habits with user equipment  602 . In some embodiments, a user is prompted to confirm his/her inferred preferences via an interface similar to interface  700 . 
     A user may be prompted by a plurality of screens to provide interest in different kinds of artists, such as performers, actors, actresses, bands, celebrities, dancers, singers, etc. 
     A user&#39;s interests and/or preferences may be stored in a user profile associated with the user. The user profile may be stored locally on user equipment  602 , or it may be stored remotely from user equipment  602  on a different server, such as processing server  608 , or any suitable remote server accessible to user equipment  602 . 
     Interface  700  may include any of and/or any combination of checkboxes such as checkbox  702 , text boxes such as text box  704 , drop down lists, radio buttons, or any suitable interface elements. 
     In some embodiments, the user may be provided with the option to choose whether to record a segment of the media asset in which the artist is performing in, or the entire media asset in which the artist is performing. For instance, as shown on interface  700 , a user has opted to record the entire show, in response to the question, “We may automatically schedule for recording a television program for you based on your liking of a particular rock band. Would you like to record the entire program, or only the segment of the program in which the rock band appears?” by selecting “entire show” in checkbox  706 . 
     If a user has indicated that he/she would like to record the entire show, identified media asset based on the list of favored artists would be recorded in its entirety. If a user has indicated that he/she would like to record a segment of the show only, then only a segment of the identified media asset would be recorded. If a user has not indicated whether he/she would like to record an entire or a segment of the identified media asset, then a default action (e.g., system may default to record the entire media asset) would be taken. 
       FIGS. 8 and 9  are two illustrative displays of a website at two different times where information may be obtained in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Screen  800  is a screenshot of an exemplary website of a band called “Metallica”. It should be noted that Tom has indicated a particular interest in Metallica in interface  700 . Details of a website implemented on a web server is discussed at length in relation to  FIG. 6 . 
     On the news section of the website, posts about recent happenings are displayed. Post  802  indicates that the band will be appearing on The Jay Leno Show on MBC on Sep. 21, 2009 at 10/9 central. Post  802  further indicates that Metallica will be interviewed and will also perform at the end of the show. 
     In one embodiment, a user has expressly indicated his/her interest in Metallica. Knowing the user&#39;s interest in Metallica, processing server  608  or any suitable server may access Metallica&#39;s website to obtain information about the band from Metallica&#39;s official website. For example, processing server  608  may have an application that is configured to send an HTTP request to the server hosting the website with the URL http://www.metallica.com to access the website (e.g., request to download an html page). In certain embodiments, the HTML page may be downloaded and prepared for further processing. For instance, the HTML file may be parsed for salient keywords, such as “appear”, “featuring”, etc., that indicates information about a media event. In some embodiments, the HTML file, or the downloaded webpage file, embeds metadata, and processing server  608  scans for relevant metadata. Alternatively, processing server  608  may visit a website about a plurality of rock bands, or rock music culture in general, to obtain information about performances. 
     In another embodiment, processing server  608  may regularly check Metallica&#39;s website (and any other websites where information about performance is believed or known to be shared) with or without the knowledge of a user&#39;s preferences. Processing server  608  may visit a plurality of these websites at periodic intervals such as every hour, or once a day. Processing server  608  may employ a web crawler to gather updates from websites. 
     In yet another embodiment, processing server  608  may be prompted by web servers such as web server  604  to download and/or receive information about upcoming performances, where web server  604  may send a message to processing server  608  containing a request to visit the website and/or information about an upcoming performance. 
     Websites such as one shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9  may include at least one of: plain text, images, scripts, flash objects, videos, audio, or any suitable web content. Accordingly, processing server  608  may be configured to parse data files of webpages in websites to find keywords that indicate information about performances. Other suitable methods to detect information about performances in data files may be used. An example method is to use a set of regular expressions to detect certain keywords such as “interview”, “appearing”, or channel names such as “NBC” or “MTV”. One of ordinary skill in the art may employ other suitable methods to extract and obtain information about upcoming performance events from websites. In some embodiments, webpages in websites may embed structured data to inform processing server  608  of the information about an upcoming performance, and provide the information in a structured data format. An illustrative example of data extracted from a website is discussed at length in relation to  FIG. 10 .  FIG. 10  may also be an example of structured data, or at least in part, directly embedded in a webpage such as one shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 . 
     Scheduled performances may change. Screen  900  is a screenshot of the Metallica website taken at a later time. Newer posts in the news section are shown, including post  902 . Post  902  indicates that the previously schedule appearance has been moved for a day, due to a scheduling conflict with a presidential address about healthcare reform. Post  902  also indicates that the appearance on The Jay Leno Show is now airing on Sep. 22, 2009. Furthermore, post  902  indicates that a presidential address about healthcare reform is scheduled to be broadcasted. 
     In a similar fashion as the methods described in relation to  FIG. 8 , processing server  608  may detect, extract, and store information about the upcoming performance from webpage shown in screen  900 . An example of extracted data is shown in  FIG. 10 . In some embodiments, the extracted data may be at least in part directly embedded in webpage shown in  FIG. 9 . Screen  900  illustrates that extracted data may become outdated, and that the information about the scheduled performance may need to be updated. Processing server  608  may periodically check for updates from webpages such as one shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 . Some websites may notify processing server  608  of scheduling changes. 
     In some embodiments, processing server  608  tracks and records previously extracted data and compare it with newly extracted data to determine if new information extracted from websites conflicts with past extracted data. If a conflict exists, new information about the performance may be used to update the records, and the corresponding media asset is identified, and the appropriate media asset action is then executed. For example, processing server  608  may receive a new post from an RSS feed that indicates that Bill Clinton&#39;s appearance on 60 minutes has been cancelled until further notice due to a football game running over time. In response to receiving the updated information about the show, if there was a previously scheduled recording for that segment of 60 minutes, processing server  608  may send a message to user equipment  602  to cancel the scheduled recording. 
     In one embodiment, a list of companies may be received from the user indicating that he/she is interested in those companies. A user interface similar to interface  700  may be used. For example, a user may input a list of stock symbols for a user profile (e.g., NYSE:GSK, NYSE:MRK, and NYSE:MTU, etc.) for which the user would like to view in his/her stock ticker bar on screen. GlaxoSmithKlein&#39;s (NYSE:GSK) CEO, Andrew Witty, has announced on his company blog that he will appear on CNBC to discuss his mission to create a successful low cost H1N1 vaccine at 10 am on Sep. 4, 2009. Knowing the user&#39;s interest in GlaxoSmithKlein, the appearance of the CEO on CNBC&#39;s television program, “Squawk on the Street” is then scheduled to be recorded on the user equipment corresponding to the user and user profile. 
     In another embodiment, Anderson Cooper blogged about his special investigative report on GlaxoSmithKlein airing at 7:00 p.m. on Sep. 6, 2009. Knowing the user&#39;s interest in GlaxoSmithKlein, processing server  608  may identify that the associated media asset is “AC360” on CNN. A recording for “AC360” is then scheduled to be recorded on the user equipment. 
     In yet another embodiment, a user may provide a list of favored entities such as products, type of products, and/or brand names. For instance, a user may, using an interface similar to interface  700 , to input a list of entities. Examples of entities include “Nike”, “Apple”, “Mars Candy”, “Ferrari”, “X-Files” etc. Information may be obtained from websites (e.g., product websites, movie websites, etc.,) that indicates that at least one of the entities are scheduled to perform (e.g., appear) on a scheduled program. For instance, the official movie website of “Valkyrie” announced that an movie critic&#39;s review is schedule to air on “Rotten Tomatoes” at 8:15 p.m. on Sep. 1, 2009. Accordingly, media assets are identified based on the information obtained, and are scheduled to be recorded. For instance, the media asset “Rotten Tomatoes” is identified, and subsequently scheduled to be recorded. 
       FIG. 10  is an exemplary data structure for data extracted from a website in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. As discussed in relation to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the data extracted may be constructed and populated by using processing server  608  to parse the webpage or by any other suitable method. In some embodiments, the data extracted may be at least in part directly embedded in the webpage. Data structure  1000  shows a set of metadata about the performance as extracted from a webpage. Note that the data structure is only exemplary, other suitable data structures may be used. Data structure  1000  may store data (such as strings extracted from an HTML page) exactly as it is extracted from the webpage. In some embodiments, data structure  1000  stores data that may have been processed by processing server  608  (e.g., “metallica” may be processed and converted to “BAND: Metallica”). Processing may include correcting typos and/or striping special characters, or any suitable processing that allow the data to be stored property, or any suitable processing that helps processing server  608  to identify the corresponding media asset later on. For instance, processing server  608  replaces “10 pm” with a standardized time stamp, or replaces “Sep. 4, 2009” with “2009-09-04”. 
     It is noted that not all websites provide information for all the fields as listed in data structure  1000 . If no data was provided, or if processing server  608  was not able to extract data for a certain field, the field may be left blank. Alternatively processing server  608  may be configured to infer the data and fill in the information in the missing field. For instance, if time and channel information was extracted, processing server  608  may search for the media title using database  650  in media guidance data source  610 . In certain embodiments, processing server  608  may be configured to infer full names from acronyms or nicknames, such as translating “Bradgelina” to “Brad Pitt” and “Angelina Jolie” by using a look up table). In some embodiments, data records of information extracted from websites may be flagged for manual editing by a human operator. Or if similar data is retrieved from multiple sources, information that is common across the multiple sources (commonality may be measured by the proportion of sources that share the same or substantially similar data) may be used for a particular data record. Or if data retrieved at a later time provides the data that was missing before, the data retrieved at a later time may be used. 
     Artist field  1002  stores a list of at least one artist appearing for the performance. At least one artist may be stored in the data structure. In some embodiments, the name of the artist in plain text may be stored in artist field  1002 . In other embodiments, a unique identification code that represents the artist may be stored. A look up table of known artists, indexed by uniquely identifiable codes, may be used to determine the name of the artist in plain text. In some other embodiments, a pointer to another data structure may be used to identify the artist appearing in the performance. 
     Media title field  1004  stores the title of the media asset as extracted from the webpage. For instance “The Jay Leno Show” identifies the name of a television program. Similar to artist field  1002 , processing server  608  may use a look up table of media titles and unique identification codes, and store a unique identification code of a media title instead of the plain text data of the media title. Media title field  1004  may help processing server  608  determine the corresponding media asset in the media guidance data source  610 . Processing server  608  preferably uses media title field to search database  650  in media guidance data source  610  to identify the corresponding media asset. 
     Info field  1006  stores the miscellaneous non-schedule information that describes the performance. In this embodiment, info field  1006  stored salient keywords “interview and performance” about the particular performance shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 . Any sort of non-schedule information may be stored in info field  1006 . 
     Schedule info field  1008  stores schedule information about the performance. Schedule information includes channel field  1016 , start time field  1018 , segment begin time field  1020 , segment duration field  1021 , date field  1022 . 
     Channel field  1016  shown in exemplary data structure  1000  stores the name of the broadcaster, which was extracted from the webpage shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 . It is noted that broadcasters may be broadcasted on different channels depending on the cable/satellite provider, location, or other factors. In this embodiment, “NBC” is stored in the channel field. In other embodiments, processing server  608  may store local channel information in channel field  1016  such as “WNBZ” or “7” depending on the application. 
     Start time field  1018  stores the time information as extracted from the webpage. “10:00 p.m.” or “22:00” may also be used. Note that in this exemplary data structure  1000 , start time field  1018  is storing the start time of the television program on which Metallica is appearing. 
     Date field  1022  stores the date as extracted from the webpage. Other formats may be used such as “09-21-2009” or “20090921”. 
     In some embodiments, the artist is only appearing during a segment of the television program, and an option is provided to perform a media asset action on the particular segment of the media asset. Although screen  800  does not show the duration and time in which the segment begins, the data may be embedded in the webpage, and may be extracted by processing server  608 . Alternatively, the schedule information about a particular segment of a media asset may be explicitly stated on the webpage. 
     Marking the time, date, origin of retrieval of data allows processing server  608  to track the history of when and where information was extracted. The retrieval data may be used to determine whether the data needs to be updated with information extracted at a later time. In one embodiment, the data is by default overwritten when new data for the same media asset is obtained and extracted at a later time. 
     Retrieved from field  1010  stores the URL of the webpage in which the data was extracted from. In some embodiments, retrieved from field  1010  may store the IP address of a server that provided the information about the performance. In other embodiments, retrieved from field  1010  may store a unique identification code for identifying the source of the information about the performance. 
     Retrieved on field  1012  and retrieved at field  1014  stores the date and time, respectively, in which the data was retrieved. The date and time in which data was retrieved allow processing server  608  to determine whether the information is outdated or needs to be updated. Date and time may be stored in different formats in fields  1012  and  1014 , depending on the application. Fields  1012  and  1014  may be combined into a single field using a timestamp that includes both date and time. 
     After the information from the website is extracted and stored in data structure such as data structure  1000 . At least some part of the data in data structure  1000  may be used to identify the corresponding media asset in media guidance data source  610 . By identifying the corresponding media asset in database  650 , the system may cause a media asset action to occur on the corresponding media asset. One advantage of identifying the corresponding media asset instead of sending the raw data as it is extracted from the website to user equipment  602  is that system  600  can leverage the processing server  608  to understand the data and translate it into an appropriate data structure and/or message and/or command that user equipment  602  can readily understand. For example “10/9c p.m.” may not be easily understood by user equipment to mean 10:00 p.m. Eastern and 9:00 p.m. Central. 
     One method of identifying the corresponding media asset in media guidance data source  610  is to find the best match based on fields such as media title field  1004  and  1006 , artist field  1108 , and schedule info field  1112 . Any combination of fields may be used as long as the combination is suitable for the search. 
     Furthermore, broadcasters may be broadcasting on different channels depending on the location of user equipment  602 , and media guidance data source  610  may provide the local channel mapping data such that the media asset action may be properly executed. For instance, if “NBC” was extracted to be the channel information, media guidance data source may translate NBC to channel  23 , so that user equipment  602  may be able to record the media asset and tune the TV tuner to the appropriate channel. 
       FIG. 11  is an exemplary data structure for a media asset corresponding to the data extracted from the website in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Data structure  1100  is an illustrative example of a media asset data record of a corresponding media asset of the extracted data from website shown in  FIG. 10 . Data structure  1100  includes sufficient information for a media asset action to occur. The fields in data structure  1100  may be populated by using information extracted from website, such as data shown in data structure  1000 , and also using data stored in database  650  in media guidance data source  610 . Data structure  1100  includes media type field  1102 , event type field  1104 , media title field  1104 , artist field  1108 , info field  1110 , schedule info field  1112 . 
     Media type field  1102  stores the type of the media asset, such as “video”, “audio”, or any suitable that identifies the type of the media asset. Event type field  1104  stores the type of the event, such as “video broadcast” or “audio on demand”. Unique identification codes may also be used in fields  1102  and  1104 , or any other fields in data structure  1100 . 
     Media title field  1106  is discussed in relation to media title field  1004 . Artist field  1108  stores at least one artist appearing on the show. As shown in this illustrative example, the list in artist field  1108  include “Metallica”, matching the artist listed in artist field  1102  of data structure  1000 . In some embodiments, the media asset data may not list all the artists that are appearing on the media asset, but the system may match the extracted data from the website (e.g., data structure  1000 ) with media asset data (e.g., data structure  1100 ) using other fields such as schedule info field  1008 . 
     In some embodiments, data extracted from website such as information in data structure  1000  may be used to populate fields in media guidance data source  610 . In certain embodiments, system  600  may require data from at least a certain number of sources to ensure that the data extracted from websites is reliable. 
     Info field  1110  is discussed in relation to info field  1106 . 
     Schedule info field  1112  includes source field  1114 , channel field  1116 , start time field  1118 , segment begin time field  1120 , segment duration field  1122 , date field  1124 , retrieved from field  1126 , retrieved on field  1128 , and retrieved at field  1130 . These fields are discussed at length in relation to  FIG. 10 . Schedule info in media asset data may include more specific information about the media asset such that the media asset action may be properly executed. For instance, source field  1114  provides the appropriate information for user equipment  602  to tune to the correct signal for the media asset. Schedule info field  1112  may be populated using information extracted from website, such as the data in schedule info field  1008 . 
     In certain embodiments, a message and/or a command may be sent to user equipment to execute a media asset action. The message and/or command includes information about the action, and provides information for the equipment to execute the media asset action. 
       FIG. 12  is an exemplary data structure for a message sent to user equipment in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Message to user equipment includes time stamp field  1202 , equipment manufacturer field  1204 , equipment model field  1206 , event type field  1208 , action type field  1210  and start time field  1214 . Event type field  1208 , media title field  1212 , start time field  1214 , artist field  1216 , info field  1218 , schedule info field  1220 , source field  1222 , channel field  1224 , segment begin time field  1226 , segment duration field  1228 , date field  1230 , retrieved from field  1232 , retrieved on field  1234 , and retrieved at field  1236  are discussed at length in relation to  FIGS. 10 and 11 . 
     Time stamp field  1202  allows system  600  to track when media event actions are scheduled. If there is new information obtained about a particular media event, the media event action previously executed may have to be cancelled, updated and/or modified. Time stamp field  1202  allows processing server  608  to determine when a specific media event action (such as scheduling a recording) had been executed, and whether the media event action has to be executed again in light of the new information (e.g., rescheduling of a performance). 
     Equipment manufacturer field  1204  and equipment model field  1206  allows system  600  to track that the message is targeted for a particular type of user equipment. For example, equipment manufacturer field  1204  may be populated with “Toshiba”, “Sony”, “Samsung”, “Motorola”, “Cisco”, “Pace” or a unique identification code that identifies a particular equipment manufacturer; equipment model field  1206  may be populated with “100MX-White”, “NMF8009-X3”, or any suitable identifier that uniquely identifies the model name of the user equipment. Additionally, fields  1204  and  1206  allows system  600  to track compatibility by informing system  600  that the message is formatted for a particular type of user equipment. A single field, or more than 2 fields may be used to identify the kind of user equipment or the communication protocol compatible with the user equipment. For example, a field for “communications protocol” may be populated with “rovi XML ver. 4.5” as a label for the protocol used. Any suitable field and data may be used to correctly allow processing server  608  to communicate with user equipment  602 . 
     Event type field  1208  identifies the kind of media asset that the message is intended for. For instance, event type may be a “video broadcast”, or a “podcast”, or a “audio broadcast”, or any suitable event type identifier. 
     Action type field  1210  allows the message to identify the intended media asset action, such as reminders for media assets, recordings for media assets, etc. In one embodiment, the message sent to user equipment  602  is a command to record a particular segment of a television broadcast program. Accordingly, the event type is a “video broadcast” and the action type is “record segment”. In another embodiment, the message sent to user equipment  602  is to set a program reminder for a radio program. The event type is, accordingly, “radio broadcast” and the action type is “set program reminder”. 
       FIGS. 13-16  are four illustrative displays of a scheduled recordings screen in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. 
       FIG. 13  is an illustrative display of a scheduled recordings screen of an interactive media guidance application. In one embodiment, a user has indicated that he/she likes the band “Metallica”. This indication has been received and may be used to obtain information from Metallica&#39;s website. On Metallica&#39;s website, such as one shown in  FIG. 8 , a performance an interview is scheduled during a segment of The Jay Leno Show on Sep. 21, 2009. The media asset, namely The Jay Leno Show, is identified, and The Jay Leno Show is scheduled for recording. In some embodiments, only a segment of The Jay Leno Show is scheduled for recording. For example, Metallica may only appear during a segment of the show where Jay Leno interviews Metallica. Accordingly, only that segment of the television show is schedule to be recorded. In some embodiments, it may be desirable to record the commercials that are broadcasted before and/or after the segment. Item  1302  on screen  1300  is part of a list of scheduled recordings on the system, indicating that The Jay Leno Show on Sep. 21, 2009 has been scheduled for recording. Additionally, item  1302  shows an icon and text indicating that the show was suggested by system  600 , as opposed to shows that are manually scheduled by the user. In another embodiment, item  1302  may show that only a segment has been scheduled for recording. 
       FIG. 14  is an illustrative display of an updated scheduled recording screen of an interactive media guidance application. In certain embodiments, processing server  608  updates an existing scheduled recording, such as item  1302  in  FIG. 13 , if the information obtained about the media asset (i.e., The Jay Leno Show) has changed since the time when the existing recording was scheduled. An updated recording is then displayed on screen  1400 . For instance, processing server  608  may receive new information about a performance. An example of a website providing new information is shown in  FIG. 9 . Processing server  608  and/or user equipment  602  may determine from time stamp field  1202  or any other data structure whether the scheduled media asset action needs to be updated. Item  1302  in the list of scheduled recordings indicates that an item has been updated. For instance, the Metallica website shown in  FIG. 9  shows that the performance and interview was moved to Sep. 22, 2009. Accordingly, the new information about the performance is obtained and is used to update the scheduled recording of The Jay Leno Show. Item  1402  has text and an icon to indicate that item  1402  is an updated recording. 
       FIG. 15  is an illustrative display of an scheduled recording screen of an interactive media guidance application in an another embodiment. Screen  1500  shows a list of suggested recordings for all scheduled suggested recordings. Item  1502  and item  1506  may have been scheduled because of a user&#39;s interest in Metallica, and Metallica is scheduled to perform during The Jay Leno Show on Sep. 21, 2009 and on Metallica in Concert on Sep. 29, 2009. Item  1504  may have been scheduled because a celebrity that a user is interested in (e.g., the celebrity is in the list of artists favored by the user) being featured on Extra. Item  1508  may have been scheduled because of the user&#39;s interest in Slipknot, as shown in  FIG. 7 . Other media assets may also be scheduled depending on the list of artists that are favored by the user. For instance, if a user has indicated that he/she favors Britney Spears, processing server  608  may schedule for recording her appearance on “MTV Movie Awards 2009” (i.e., identified media asset). “MTV Movie Awards 2009” may appear on the list of suggested recordings, or scheduled recordings. 
       FIG. 16  is an illustrative display of an updated scheduled recording screen of an interactive media guidance application in yet another embodiment. Rather than showing a list of suggested recordings for all the artists on the list of favored artists, screen  1600  shows only suggested recordings for a particular artist. For example, a list of recordings in which Metallica is performing, the list including items  1602  and  1604 , is listed. 
       FIG. 17  is an illustrative display of a scheduled upcoming shows screen in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. In one embodiment, screen  1700  is used to show a list of suggested upcoming shows, items  1702 ,  1704 ,  1706 ,  1708 , in which artists in the list of favored artists is scheduled to perform. For instance, a user may browse the list of suggested upcoming shows to determine whether he/she should record a particular show. The user may not like The Jay Leno Show, but enjoys watching Metallica in Concert. He/she may then select Metallica in Concert (i.e., item  1704 ) and schedule a program reminder, or a recording. Program reminders, or any other media asset actions may be scheduled using system  600  as a default action. For instance, all suggested upcoming shows may be scheduled for recording by default. Suggested upcoming shows may also have program reminders scheduled by default. 
       FIG. 18  is an illustrative display of a program reminder in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, Metallica is in the list of favored artists. Information about a Metallica performance is obtained, and The Jay Leno Show has been identified as the media asset. Program reminder has been scheduled and appears as pop up  1802  on screen  1800  while a video is being watched. Pop up  1802  identifies the performance and the performing artist (e.g., “An interview featuring Metallica”), the name of the media asset (e.g., “The Jay Leno Show”), and a prompt for the user to determine which action to take. Actions available to the user includes changing the channel, recording the program, or staying on the channel. At least one of the options may be provided to the user. Other options may also be provided, such as ignoring the program reminder, asking to never be reminded about the program, or asking to be reminded later. 
       FIG. 19  is an illustrative flow diagram for scheduling for recording a media asset in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. At step  1902  of method  1900 , a list of artists that are favored by a user is obtained. For example, the list of artists that are favored by a user may be obtained from user input on a website, or on an interactive media guidance application, or inferred from a user&#39;s interactions with a website and/or an interactive media guidance application, or any applications. In certain embodiments, list of artists may be obtained or extracted from user input. An example of a list of artists is obtained is discussed in relation to  FIG. 7 . 
     At step  1904 , information is obtained from a website by parsing textual data of a webpage of a website to extract schedule and non-schedule information associated with a performance of an artist, where the extracted information indicates that one of the artists in the list is scheduled to perform during a particular time. Extracting information from the website may include extracting/obtaining information about the performance by parsing the textual data on a webpage of the website. The extracted information may include schedule and/or non-schedule information. The extracted information from the website indicates that one of the artists in the list (e.g., Metallica) is scheduled to perform during a particular time. For instance, a script may use regular expressions to search for a textual pattern that includes the name of a broadcaster and numbers that indicates time (i.e., schedule information about a performance). In another instance, a script may search for embedded structured data, such as XML data, located in or linked from an HTML file to extract information about performances. An example of extracted information from the website and the method for performing the same are discussed in relation to  FIGS. 8-10 . In particular,  FIGS. 8-9  are examples of a website that includes schedule and non-schedule information about performance(s).  FIG. 10  is an example of the extracted information from the website shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     At step  1906 , a media asset associated with the scheduled performance is identified based on the extracted information. After extracting information from the website about a scheduled performance, the information is used to identify the media asset associated with the scheduled performance. For example, if processing server  608  extracts information indicating that Metallica is going to perform at 10 pm on NBC on Sep. 28, 2009, the processing server  608  then uses the extracted information to search in database  650  of media guidance data source  610  for the media asset associated with the scheduled performance. Further details regarding step  1906  is discussed in relation to  FIGS. 6 and 11 . In particular,  FIG. 11  discusses the data structure of the identified media asset. 
     At step  1908 , the identified media asset is scheduled for recording. In some embodiments, a message may be sent to user equipment  602  to schedule the media asset for recording, such as one shown in and discussed in relation to  FIG. 12 . Scheduling for recording, or other media asset actions are discussed in relation to  FIGS. 13-18 . 
     In certain embodiments, the method returns to step  1904  to continue to extract further information from websites by way of parsing webpages. In some embodiments, the method returns to step  1902  to continue to obtain a list of artists that are favored by a user. 
       FIG. 20  is an illustrative flow diagram for scheduling for recording a media asset in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. At step  2002  of method  2000 , input from the user specifying the list of favored artists is received. For example, textual input may be received via an interactive media guidance application. Receiving textual input is discussed in relation to  FIG. 7 . Steps  2004 ,  2006 ,  2008  are discussed in relation to steps  1904 ,  1906 , and  1908  respectively. 
       FIG. 21  is an illustrative flow diagram for scheduling for recording a media asset in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Step  2102  is discussed in relation to  1902 . Alternatively, step  2002  may be performed in place of step  2102 . Method  2100  allows system  600  to extract information from at least one website by parsing a webpage (step  2104 ), and checking to see if the information indicates that one of the artists in the list is scheduled to perform during a particular time (step  2106 ). If the information pertains to one of the artists (e.g., information indicates that one of the artists in the list is scheduled to perform during a particular time), then method  2100  proceeds to steps  2108  and  2110 . If the information does not pertain to one of the artists, then method  2100  returns to step  2104  to extract further information from at least one website. In alternative embodiments, method  2100  returns to step  2102  to continue to build the list of artists that are favored by a user. Steps  2108  and  2100  are discussed in relation to  1906  and  1908 . 
       FIG. 22  is an illustrative flow diagram for scheduling for recording a media asset in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Method  2200  describes another embodiment similar to method  1900  of  FIG. 19 , where parsing textual data from a webpage of a website (step  1904 ) includes searching for a keyword pattern that indicates information about a scheduled performance (step  2204 ). Systems and methods related to parsing and/or extracting schedule and non-schedule information are discussed in relation to  FIG. 10 . For example, a PERL script that parses HTML files may be used to extract information from a website regarding performances by using regular expressions to find keywords such as “appearance”, “interview”, etc. Steps  2202 ,  2206 , and  2208  are discussed in relation to  1902 ,  1906 , and  1908 . 
       FIG. 23  is an illustrative flow diagram for scheduling for recording a media asset in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Method  2300  describes another embodiment similar to method  1900  of  FIG. 19 , where scheduling for recording the identified media asset (step  1908 ) includes steps  2308 ,  2310 , and  2312  of  FIG. 23 . Steps  2302 ,  2304 , and  2306  are discussed in relation to  1902 ,  1904 , and  1906  of  FIG. 19 . 
     After the media asset has been identified (step  2306 ), method  2300  proceeds to step  2308  to search in a schedule database of media assets and commands for the media asset that corresponds to the extracted information (step  2308 ), downloads an appropriate command for a user equipment corresponding to the user to perform the recording of the media asset (step  2310 ), and sends the command to the user equipment to record the media asset (step  2312 ). 
     Regarding step  2308 , the database of media assets and commands may be a collection of media assets and recording commands associated with the media assets in the database. Searching of the database (e.g., the searching function) may be implemented as a database query, or a look up in a hash table. The database of media assets and commands may be stored in media guidance data source  610 . 
     Regarding step  2310 , processing server  608  may download from media guidance data source  610  an appropriate command for user equipment  602  corresponding to the user to perform the recording of the media asset. For instance, processing server  608  may download a “schedule recording” command from media guidance data source  610 . Commands may be user equipment-specific, or may be application-specific (e.g., software specific). 
     Regarding step  2312 , processing server  608  may send the command to user equipment  602  to record the media asset. For example, processing server  608  may send the “schedule recording” command to a set top box in the user&#39;s home to record “Top Gear” television series on channel  856 . In another example, processing server  608  may send a “set a program reminder” command a mobile phone to remind the user of the television program series “Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe” on the Discovery Channel. 
       FIG. 24  is an illustrative flow diagram for scheduling for recording a media asset in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Method  2400  describes another embodiment similar to method  1900  of  FIG. 19 , where scheduling for recording the identified media asset (step  1908 ) includes causing a user equipment corresponding to the user to record the identified media asset (step  2408 ). Steps  2402 ,  2404 , and  2406  are discussed in relation to steps  1902 ,  1904 , and  1906  of  FIG. 19 . 
     At step  2408 , processing server  608  may cause user equipment  602  to record the identified media asset. An example of causing user equipment  602  to record the identified media asset is by sending a message to user equipment. An example of a message, or other ways to cause the user equipment  602  to record the identified media asset is discussed at length in relation to  FIG. 11 . For instance, a remote access command transmitted over the Internet to cause the user equipment  602  to record the identified media asset. 
       FIG. 25  is an illustrative flow diagram for scheduling for recording a media asset in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Method  2500  describes another embodiment similar to method  1900  of  FIG. 19 , where scheduling for recording the identified media asset (step  1908 ) includes sending a message to a user equipment corresponding to the user (step  2508 ). Steps  2502 ,  2504 , and  2506  are discussed in relation to steps  1902 ,  1904 , and  1906  of  FIG. 19 . 
     Regarding step  2508 , processing server  608  may send a message, such as one shown in  FIG. 12 , to user equipment  602  corresponding to the user. For example, processing server  608  may send an SMS text message to a mobile phone to record an audio podcast scheduled to release on Sep. 4, 2009 at midnight. 
       FIG. 26  is an illustrative flow diagram for scheduling for recording a media asset in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Method  2600  relates to updating an existing scheduled recording if the information about the performance has changed. Step  2602 ,  2604  and  2606  are discussed in relation to  1902 ,  1904 , and  1906  of  FIG. 19 . Once a media asset associated with the scheduled performance has been identified (step  2606 ), method  2600  proceed to determine whether there is an existing scheduled recording associated with the identified media asset. 
     If there was an existing scheduled recording, method  2600  determines whether the extracted information about the media asset has changed since the time when the existing recording was scheduled (step  2612 ). The determination in step  2612  may be done by checking the time stamp, such as the time stamp fields, as discussed in relation to  FIGS. 10-12 . 
     If the information has changed, method  2600  proceeds to step  2614  to update the existing scheduled recording. For instance, processing server  608  may send a message to user equipment to edit the scheduled recording of “House”. The message may resemble one shown in  FIG. 13 . If the information has not changed, method  2600  returns to step  2604  to continue extracting further information from websites. 
     If there does not exist a scheduled recording, method  2600  proceeds to step  2610  to scheduled for recording the identified media asset. Step  2610  is performed in a similar fashion as step  1908  in  FIG. 19 . 
       FIG. 27  is an illustrative flow diagram for scheduling for recording a media asset in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Method  2700  relates to method  1900  in  FIG. 27 . Step  2702 ,  2708  and  2710  are discussed in relation to steps  1902 ,  1906 , and  1908  of  FIG. 19 . After obtaining a list of artists that are favored by a user (step  2702 ), method  2700  proceeds to search for a website associated with one of the artists in the list (step  2704 ). Step  2704  may be performed by processing server  608 . In one embodiment, processing server  608  may search among a known list of websites for website(s) that relates to the artist. In another embodiment, processing server  608  may use a search engine, such as Google.com, to look for the website associated with one of the artists in the list. 
     After step  2704 , method  2700  proceeds to step  2706 , where information is extracted from the associated website. The information indicates that the one of the artists in the list is scheduled to perform during a particular time. Example of the information extracted is shown in and discussed in relation to  FIG. 10 . 
       FIG. 28  is an illustrative flow diagram for scheduling for recording a media asset in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Method  2800  relates to a method that allows a user to select whether he/she wishes to record an entire media asset, or only a segment of the media asset in which the artist appears. Step  2802 ,  2805 ,  2806  and  2610  are discussed in relation to  1902 ,  1904 ,  1906  and  1908  of  FIG. 19 . 
     At step  2804 , user input indicating whether the user desires to record an entire media asset or a segment of a media asset. An example of an interface that requests for this user input is shown in and discussed in relation to  FIG. 7 . For example, a user may indicate that he/she would like to record a segment of the show if any one of the rock bands in the list of favored rock bands is scheduled to appear. 
     At step  2808 , the system checks to see whether the user had indicated to record an entire media asset or a segment of a media asset. If the user has chosen to record an entire media asset, method  2800  proceeds to step  2810  to schedule for recording the entire media asset. For example, even though the band Metallica is only appearing on a segment of The Jay Leno show, the entire episode airing of The Jay Leno Show is recorded. 
     If the user has chosen to record only the segment of the media asset in which the artist is schedule to perform, then method  2800  proceeds to step  2812  to schedule for recording a segment of the identified media asset wherein the artist is scheduled to perform. For example, if a website has indicated that Metallica is scheduled to perform during three segments of Saturday Night Live, only the three segments of Saturday Night Live would be recorded. Methods for recording an entire media asset or a segment of a program is discussed in relation to  FIG. 12 . 
     It should be understood, that the above steps of the flow diagrams of  FIGS. 19-28  may be executed or performed in any order or sequence no limited to the order and sequence shown and described in the figures. Also, some of the above steps of the flow diagrams of  FIGS. 19-28  may be executed or performed substantially simultaneously where appropriate or in parallel to reduce latency and processing times. 
     The above described embodiments of the present invention are presented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the present invention is limited only by the claims which follow.