Patent ID: 7454120

Claim:
A method for aggregating television programming in a personal video recording (“PVR”) system, said method comprising the steps of: receiving a plurality of television signals; tuning each of said television signals in one of a plurality of tuners; buffering said television signals on a storage medium in at least a first PVR media server, the PVR media server maintaining a write position for the buffering; coupling a plurality of clients, over a home-based network comprising one or more PVR media servers, to said first PVR media server; generating a request from a requesting client for a list of television programming from each of said PVR media servers on said home-based network; receiving, from each PVR media server, a list of television programming available through each of said respective PVR media servers, each PVR media server configured for presenting live broadcast content and prerecorded content; and aggregating, at said requesting client, a list of content available from a plurality of distributed locations within the home based network, the plurality of distributed locations comprising separate content that is tuned by using more than one tuner of the plurality of tuners within said PVR system, the list comprising the live broadcast content and the prerecorded content available for presentation at the requesting client via each PVR media server within the home-based network; and presenting the aggregated list of content by using the requesting client.