A system and method are disclosed for providing program criteria
representing a plurality of audio and/or visual programs. A plurality of
tokens are stored in a database of one or more computers, each token
having an identifier for identifying a predetermined audio and/or visual
program. Each token may be a universal program identifier that represents
a specific program in a global programming environment (e.g., the token
may identify a program across multiple tuning spaces). Alternatively or
additionally, a token may be a tuning-space specific program identifier
that represents program criteria associated with a specific program for
particular tuning space. The server is programmed to provide at least one
token to a remote computer based on selection criteria.