Automated retirement of interactive applications using retirement instructions for events and program states

A computer program product for retiring interactive applications associated with television broadcast programs by a broadcast receiver coupled to a display, the computer program product comprising:

• program code for receiving by the broadcast receiver an interactive application which is associated with a television program, and which includes a plurality of retirement instructions for retiring the interactive application in response to combinations of external events and internal program states;
• program code for executing the interactive application by the broadcast receiver while concurrently displaying the television program;
• program code for detecting an external event or condition by the broadcast receiver indicating that the execution of the interactive application is no longer appropriate for the television program being displayed;
• program code for detecting an internal program state of the interactive application, wherein the internal program state includes at least one of:
• a protected section state of an output of the executed interactive application and an unprotected section state of the output of the executed interactive application;
• program code for retiring the interactive application by the broadcast receiver according to the retirement instructions associated with the detected external event and the internal program state of the interactive application;
• a computer readable medium on which the program codes are stored;
• program code for detecting that a second broadcast receiver installed upstream from the broadcast receiver controlling the interactive application has performed a channel change;
• and
• program code for retiring the interactive application according to stored retirement instructions associated with said second broadcast receiver upstream channel change and the internal program state of the interactive application.