Patent ID: 7779448

Claim:
A method of processing a digital broadcasting signal in a digital television receiver, comprising: demodulating in a demodulator a digital broadcasting signal including program and system information protocol (PSIP) data that includes a virtual channel table (VCT), event information table (EIT), system time table (STT), rating region table (RRT), and master guide table (MGT), wherein the VCT includes a predefined data field, wherein for an inactive channel the predefined data 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, wherein when the virtual channel is currently inactive, the receiver is capable of skipping over the virtual channel while a user is surfing; and receiving in a database at least one table of the demodulated PSIP data.