A method for displaying a status to a television viewer provides detailed information to a viewer. According to the method, signal strength of a received RF signal is evaluated, and an RF signal strength indicator value is created. The RF signal strength indicator value can be a qualitative indicator, such as strong, good, normal, weak, or absent. The RF signal indicator value can also be a qualitative value. A transport signal is also evaluated and a transport signal validity indicator value is then created. A quantitative value could be obtained based on the bit error rate, for example. Additionally, received parsing information is evaluated and a parsing validity indicator value is created. As with the transport signal, the received parsing information can be evaluated to obtain a qualitative indicator, such as valid or invalid. The RF signal strength indicator value, the transport signal validity indicator value and the parsing validity indicator value are displayed automatically if television programming is not being displayed or detected when programming a channel map or under control of a user. So, if the programming fails to display or be detected, these status values are displayed in place of a blank screen.