An apparatus, program product and method for recalling a previous program channel
of interest from a current program channel, where the channel of interest is determined
by the amount of time a user has previously spent on the channel. The amount of
elapsed time a user spends on a program channel is monitored. If the elapsed time
exceeds a predetermined threshold, the program channel is identified as a channel
of interest. As the user switches from the channel of interest to subsequent broadcast
channels (i.e., "surfs"), the channel of interest is retained in memory as long
as the amount of time spent on any subsequent channel is less than the predetermined
time threshold. If the amount of time spent on a subsequent channel is greater
than the predetermined time threshold, the subsequent channel is identified and
stored as the new channel of interest. At any time, the user may select a selective
view function to return to the channel of interest from the currently selected channel.