Automatic resolution of viewing and recording conflicts in digital video recorders

Abstract

A method of resolving program recording conflicts arising from an attempt to change the channel where there are not enough tuners to service all desired viewing and recording activities, comprising: searching a program guide for scheduled future broadcasts of the plurality of conflicted programs, selecting a plurality of future broadcasts of the conflicted programs at times and channels where all conflicts are resolved to the greatest extent possible by searching for the future broadcasts of the plurality of conflicted programs and selecting the times and channels where the highest number of selected programs will be able to be recorded by the available tuners, and scheduling a recording for each of the selected programs based on the selected recording times and channels.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.