Abstract: This invention relates to an apparatus and method for recording and playback of contents involving at least one receiving/storage unit and at least one storage/playback unit, with the at least one receiving/storage unit in each case recording contents, placing them in interim storage, managing them, and deleting them as appropriate in accordance with a first rule set assigned to it, and at least a part of the contents in each case being transferred to the at least one storage/playback unit in accordance with a second rule set and there stored, managed, and deleted as appropriate in accordance with the assigned second rule set. On the basis of the first and second rule sets, large quantities of contents can be recorded, stored, managed, and again deleted as appropriate in an optimized fashion for a user.