Systems and methods provided herein for intelligently distinguishing between different versions of a media asset and selectively storing those requested media assets that differ from versions that were previously stored in some pre-defined characteristics. These systems and methods, upon identifying a version of the requested media asset was previously stored, determine a characteristic of the requested media asset. These systems and methods compare the characteristic of the requested media asset with a corresponding characteristic of the version of the requested media asset that was previously stored to determine a difference between the two versions. The systems and methods then determine whether the difference in characteristic renders the requested media asset preferable over the previously stored version. Upon determining that the requested media asset is preferable over the previously stored version, the systems and methods store the requested media asset.