Abstract: The present invention relates to systems and methods for uniquely identifying programs included in broadcasts. One or more samples are obtained from a program and these samples are compared with corresponding samples of other programs. The samples are obtained from a descriptive stream such as the closed captioning stream of the program. The comparison of the sample(s) includes compensating the sample(s) for timing/framing offsets and also uses fuzzy comparisons to account for minor data differences. After the samples have been compared, a determination is made as to whether the sample(s) substantially match. If the sample(s) substantially match, the program has already been recorded. If the sample(s) do not match, then the program is recorded as it is likely to be unique with respect to other programs stored by the user.