Apparatus for and method of executing customized interactive computing services in a broadband network environment

Apparatus for and method of executing customized interactive computing services in a broadband network environment. A device on the broadband network is capable of retrieving user-defined data over the network and format and display it on an associated display along with data broadcast over the broadband network. The device may be customer premises equipment such as a set-top-box, gaming console, or home gateway connected to the broadband network. In the case of a set-top-box, the broadcast data would be television programming. The device is preferably capable of retrieving data from a source on the internet. Retrieval and formatting are preferably carried out by compact software agents which are sent to the device through the network to be stored in and to execute on the device.