4. The programmable apparatus of claim 1 wherein the buffering occurs when a television unit is not activated.
1. A programmable apparatus for identifying a real-time television signal of interest to a user, comprising: a logical unit having a memory and connected to a television; a program in the memory; the logical unit being directed by the program to perform a plurality of steps comprising: responsive to a user entering a search parameter into the logical unit, simultaneously buffering a plurality of audio voice streams of a plurality of real-time television signals in a plurality of languages; translating the plurality of audio voice streams into text associated with each of the plurality of real-time television signals in the plurality of languages; buffering the text into a lexical buffer; searching the lexical buffer for the search parameter; displaying a list of the plurality of real-time television signals in the plurality of languages in order of relevance to the search parameter; and the user selecting a first real-time television signal from the list, whereby the first real-time television signal is displayed on a television in real-time; wherein the user specifies the plurality of real-time television signals, an amount of buffering time to be allocated for each of the plurality of real-time television signals, and a plurality of time periods for each of the plurality of real-time television signals to be buffered.