Patent ID: 8707367

Claim:
A method of controlling display of an inactive channel in a digital broadcast receiver, the method comprising: receiving in the receiver a digital broadcast signal including a virtual channel table (VCT), the VCT including a version_number field, a section_number field, a last_section_number field, a short_name field, a major_channel_number field, a minor_channel number_field, a modulation_mode field, a carrier_frequency field, a channel_TSID field, a program number field, an ETM_location field, and an access_controlled field, parsing the VCT; identifying a value of the program number field, wherein for an inactive channel the program number field is set to zero, wherein the inactive channel is a channel that is not presently carrying a broadcast program; however, the same inactive channel is scheduled to carry a broadcast program at a predetermined later time from a broadcasting station without local viewer interaction; and controlling display of the virtual channel when the virtual channel is determined to be inactive and selected by a user, wherein the inactive channel is capable of being automatically skipped by the receiver.