Patent US 11,190,856

Time-based events and other metadata that can be added to a media stream to enable downstream systems to enhance the viewing experience are disclosed. The events are given time attributes that establish their location in the media stream so that regardless of where the playhead is located within the media stream, the events that are active at that point in time can be identified and synchronized with the playhead. In addition, a master clock can be used to update a stream timeline associated with the media stream to account for differences between the expected and actual duration of advertisements inserted into the media stream.