Abstract: Method and apparatus for providing a receiver a high quality video signal and a plurality of lower quality video signals which can be zapped, i.e., searched through at any given time, via a channel having a limited data capacity. A first set of high quality video signals is present at a transmitter, e.g., fifty programs having a 10 Mbit/s data rate. A second set of video signals which is a subset of the first set of video signals is sent to the receiver in response to a control signal which indicates the programs a viewer has selected to be viewed at high quality, e.g., using the full 10 Mbit/s of data. A third set of video signals is also sent from the transmitter to the receiver. This third set of video signals represents low quality programs, e.g., signals having a 1 Mbit/s data rate, which can be searched.