USER MESSAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER

An apparatus and method is presented for receiving (128) and displaying (116) user messages associated with multimedia content. Specifically, the present invention is directed to controlling the operation of a television recording/playback system to permit a user to input a message (128), associate that message with a selected television program (130), and display the associated message (116, 120, 132) when the selected television program is accessed by another user (see FIG. 1). The apparatus of the present invention is directed to a system (600) for managing multimedia content including devices (602) for storing television programs and associating with those programs user-generated messages for display to other system users. In this way, the present invention provides content management tools that promote sharing by all users, ease the process of establishing a consensus for managing limited resources, and encourage monitoring by the administrator.