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.