Systems and methods for interrupted program recording

1. A method for recording a program of interest at a media device, the method comprising:

receiving an unscheduled program flag (UPF) corresponding to an occurrence of an unscheduled program, wherein the UPF includes a current duration of the unscheduled program, and wherein the current duration of the unscheduled program received in the UPF corresponds to a start time of the unscheduled program and a current time;

adjusting a scheduled recording end time associated with the program of interest to an updated record end time in response to receiving the UPF, wherein the updated record end time substantially equals the scheduled recording end time plus the current duration of the unscheduled program; and

ending the recording of the program of interest based upon the updated record end time,

wherein the UPF corresponds to an end of the unscheduled program, wherein recording of the program of interest is scheduled to begin after the end of the unscheduled program, and further comprising:

adding the current duration of the unscheduled program to a scheduled recording start time such that an updated record start time substantially equals the scheduled recording start time plus the current duration of the unscheduled program received in the UPF corresponding to the end of the unscheduled program;

storing the updated record start time and the updated record end time in a memory of the media device; and

receiving the program of interest at the media device, wherein the unscheduled program has ended prior to receiving the program of interest.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the UPF comprises:

receiving the UPF in at least one of a video stream, an audio stream, a meta data stream, and a closed captioning stream.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of UPF are periodically communicated, and wherein each one of the plurality of periodically communicated UPFs include the start time of the unscheduled program, and wherein the current duration of each one of the plurality of periodically communicated UPFs is associated with a time of presentation of the unscheduled program.

4. A method for recording a program of interest at a media device, the method comprising;

receiving a first unscheduled program flag (UPF) that identifies a start of an unscheduled program, wherein recording of the program of interest is underway at a time of the start of the unscheduled program, and wherein the first UPF includes a current duration of the unscheduled program that corresponds to a time that the unscheduled program began and a current time;

later receiving a second UPF that identifies an end of the unscheduled program, wherein the second UPF includes a new current duration of the unscheduled program that corresponds to the time that the unscheduled program began and a later current time;

determining, at the media device, the new current duration of the unscheduled program based upon the second UPF; and

adding the new current duration of the unscheduled program to a scheduled recording end time such that an updated record end time substantially equals the scheduled recording end time plus the new current duration of the unscheduled program,

wherein the program of interest is a first program of interest, wherein the received UPF corresponds to the end of the unscheduled program and includes the current duration that defines a total duration of the unscheduled program, wherein a second program of interest is scheduled for recording when received at the media device, and wherein the second program of interest is scheduled to begin after the end of the unscheduled program, and further comprising:

adding the current duration that defines the total duration of the unscheduled program to a scheduled recording start time of the second program of interest, such that an updated record start time substantially equals the scheduled recording start time plus the duration of the unscheduled program;

adding the current duration that defines the total duration of the unscheduled program to a scheduled recording end time of the second program of interest, such that the updated record end time substantially equals the scheduled recording end time plus the current duration that defines the total duration of the unscheduled program;

beginning the recording of the second program of interest at the updated record start time; and

ending the recording of the second program of interest at the updated record end time.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

halting the recording of the program of interest in response to receiving the first UPF; and

restarting the recording of the program of interest based upon the new current duration received in the second UPF when the second UPF corresponds to an end of the unscheduled program.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

marking the recording of the program of interest with a first marker in response to receiving the first UPF;

recording of the unscheduled program;

restarting the recording of the program of interest in response to receiving the second UPF; and

marking the recording of the program of interest with a second marker as the recording of the program of interest is restarted.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

receiving an instruction from a viewer to play the recorded program of interest;

playing a first portion of the program of interest beginning from the start of the program of interest up to a halting of the recording of the program of interest based upon the first marker;

skipping over the recorded unscheduled program; and

playing a second portion of the program of interest beginning from the end of the unscheduled program up to an end of the program of interest based upon the second marker.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

receiving an instruction from a viewer to play the unscheduled program; and

playing the unscheduled program based upon a beginning identified by the first marker up to the end of the unscheduled program identified by the second marker.

9. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

storing the determined current duration of the unscheduled program in a memory of the media device.

10. A method for recording a program of interest at a media device, the method comprising:

receiving a first unscheduled program flag (UPF) that identifies a start of an unscheduled program, wherein recording of the program of interest is underway at a time of the start of the unscheduled program, and wherein the first UPF includes a current duration of the unscheduled program that corresponds to a time that the unscheduled program began and a current time;

later receiving a second UPF that identifies an end of the unscheduled program, wherein the second UPF includes a new current duration of the unscheduled program that corresponds to the time that the unscheduled program began and a later current time;

determining, at the media device, the new current duration of the unscheduled program based upon the second UPF; and

adding the new current duration of the unscheduled program to a scheduled recording end time such that an updated record end time substantially equals the scheduled recording end time plus the new current duration of the unscheduled program,

wherein the program of interest is a first program of interest, and further comprising:

adding the current duration of the unscheduled program in a currently received UPF to a scheduled recording start time of a second program of interest such that an updated record start time substantially equals the scheduled recording start time plus the current duration of the unscheduled program; and

adding the current duration of the unscheduled program in the currently received UPF to the scheduled recording end time of the second program of interest such that the updated record end time substantially equals the scheduled recording end time plus the current duration of the unscheduled program,

wherein the second program of interest starts after the end of the unscheduled program.

11. A method for recording a program of interest at a media device, the method comprising:

receiving a first unscheduled program flag (UPF) that identifies a start of an unscheduled program, wherein recording of the program of interest is underway at a time of the start of the unscheduled program, and wherein the first UPF includes a current duration of the unscheduled program that corresponds to a time that the unscheduled program began and a current time;

later receiving a second UPF that identifies an end of the unscheduled program, wherein the second UPF includes a new current duration of the unscheduled program that corresponds to the time that the unscheduled program began and a later current time;

determining, at the media device, the new current duration of the unscheduled program based upon the second UPF; and

adding the new current duration of the unscheduled program to a scheduled recording end time such that an updated record end time substantially equals the scheduled recording end time plus the new current duration of the unscheduled program,

wherein the program of interest is a first program of interest, and further comprising:

receiving a request to record a second program of interest that is scheduled to occur after the end of the unscheduled program, wherein the second program of interest is on the same channel as the unscheduled program;

adding the current duration of the unscheduled program included in a last received UPF to a scheduled recording start time of the second program of interest such that an updated record start time of the second program of interest substantially equals the scheduled recording start time of the second program of interest plus the duration of the unscheduled program; and

adding the current duration of the unscheduled program included in the last received UPF to a scheduled recording end time of the second program of interest such that an updated record end time of the second program of interest substantially equals the scheduled recording end time of the second program of interest plus the duration of the unscheduled program.