Picture recorder and commercial message detection method

A recorder comprising:

• a recording reproduction control unit that records a broadcast program in a storage unit and performs control to reproduce the program from the storage unit according to reproduction position information;
• an audio input unit that separates an audio signal from the broadcast program;
• and
• an audio processing unit that detects a commercial section from an audio signal separated in the audio input unit, and generates the reproduction position information indicating the position of the commercial section,
• wherein the audio processing unit includes:
• a silent section determining unit that compares the level of an audio signal included in the broadcast program with a first threshold, and determines a section less than the first threshold as a silent section;
• and
• a commercial section determining unit that, when the interval between adjacent silent sections matches a predetermined time length, determines a section sandwiched by the silent sections as a commercial section.