A method, digital video recording (DVR) device/system and computer program provide a mechanism for recording video content associated with unpredictable events. A user specifies particular event classifications, keywords, or other control parameters from which the occurrence of an event can be determined, and when such event is detected, the DVR is triggered to record content from a specified channel/location. The events can be detected from feeds such as RSS feeds, websites, video content scans or other mechanisms. The event detection may be provided by a remote service that is accessible for user-configuration via a network, or the event detection may be performed in a DVR device or local computer system.