This invention provides a means to identify unknown media programming using the audio component of said programming. The invention extracts audio information from the media received by consumer electronic devices such as smart TVs and TV set-top boxes then conveys said information to a remote server means which will in turn identify said audio information of unknown identity by way of testing against a database of known audio segment information. The system identifies unknown media programming in real-time such that time-sensitive services may be offered such as interactive television applications providing contextually related information or television advertisement substitution. Other uses include tracking media consumption among many other services.