A distributed content analysis network uses the processing capabilities of customer-premises equipment as subordinate nodes for analyzing multimedia programs. A master node selects a program and identifies subordinate nodes that are available for analysis, which may include both nodes tuned to the program and idle nodes. The master node divides the program into segments for analysis and instructs each subordinate node to analyze a segment. The subordinate nodes then provide analysis results back to the master node, which may build a metadata profile for the program based on the analysis.