A method of generating an alert based on the detection of an on-screen text, logo, icon or image in video data, the method comprising: receiving, by a computer system, video data comprising a plurality of frames, wherein each frame comprises a plurality of pixels; determining, by the computer system, a monitoring region in the plurality of frames, wherein the monitoring region comprises a subset of the plurality of pixels wherein determining the monitoring region comprises executing a region engine to recognize, detect, or otherwise determine the monitoring region; extracting, by the computer system, pixel data from the subset of the plurality of pixels in the monitoring region in a subset of the plurality of frames; analyzing, by the computer system, the extracted pixel data from the monitoring region, the analyzing comprising: defining, by the computer system, a key item comprising a particular pixel pattern representing an on-screen text, logo, icon or image; comparing, by the computer system, the pixel data to the particular pixel pattern; and determining (412, 512), by the computer system, a match based on the comparing of the pixel data to the particular pixel pattern; and performing, by the computer system, an action based on the analyzing, wherein performing the action comprises: generating, by the computer system, an alert message that the key item has been detected; and rendering the alert message as a visual alert over the visual content of another video asset so that a user can receive alerts for the content of one program while watching another. receiving, by a computer system, video data comprising a plurality of frames, wherein each frame comprises a plurality of pixels; determining, by the computer system, a monitoring region in the plurality of frames, wherein the monitoring region comprises a subset of the plurality of pixels wherein determining the monitoring region comprises executing a region engine to recognize, detect, or otherwise determine the monitoring region; extracting, by the computer system, pixel data from the subset of the plurality of pixels in the monitoring region in a subset of the plurality of frames; analyzing, by the computer system, the extracted pixel data from the monitoring region, the analyzing comprising: defining, by the computer system, a key item comprising a particular pixel pattern representing an on-screen text, logo, icon or image; comparing, by the computer system, the pixel data to the particular pixel pattern; and determining (412, 512), by the computer system, a match based on the comparing of the pixel data to the particular pixel pattern; and defining, by the computer system, a key item comprising a particular pixel pattern representing an on-screen text, logo, icon or image; comparing, by the computer system, the pixel data to the particular pixel pattern; and determining (412, 512), by the computer system, a match based on the comparing of the pixel data to the particular pixel pattern; and performing, by the computer system, an action based on the analyzing, wherein performing the action comprises: generating, by the computer system, an alert message that the key item has been detected; and rendering the alert message as a visual alert over the visual content of another video asset so that a user can receive alerts for the content of one program while watching another. generating, by the computer system, an alert message that the key item has been detected; and rendering the alert message as a visual alert over the visual content of another video asset so that a user can receive alerts for the content of one program while watching another.