A system and method is provided for synchronizing media content in a media distribution network using timestamps. The system includes a decoder configured to parse a plurality of data packets of a media stream to determine a timestamp value for each video frame in the media stream; and a media content synchronizer. The media content synchronizer generates a media content timeline based on the determined timestamp value of each of video frame, generates the media content timeline based on a cadence having monotonic increasing count, determines whether each video frame of the media stream is a next frame in a video sequence of the media stream based on the timestamp value for the respective video frame, and repeats a previous frame in the video sequence to generate the media content timeline when a current frame in the video sequence was dropped based on the determined timestamp value.