INFORMATION PROVIDING APPARATUS

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively provide information that a viewer desires, associated with contents of a television program. SOLUTION: An information providing apparatus comprises: a user preference information-registering means for registering preference information of a user in association with the user; a user viewing program information-acquiring means for acquiring viewing program information of the user from a browser built in a digital television; a program content-extracting means for extracting a feature word from a broadcast program based on the acquired viewing program information of the user; a retrieval means for performing network retrieval based on the extracted feature word; and a related information-transmitting means for transmitting a result of the retrieval to the browser. COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT