A method and mechanism for delivering and processing relational metadata in a television system. A client is configured to receive a broadcast signal and relational metadata which corresponds to received programming. The received relational metadata includes information which identifies two sets of data and a relationship between them. Upon identifying the data indicated by the relational metadata and determining the indicated relationship, the client is configured to perform a predetermined action which corresponds to the received relational metadata and the identified data sets. The receiver includes, or is coupled to, a mass storage device configured to store received relational metadata and programming. Among the actions which may be automatically performed include replacing the first identified data with the second data on the storage device, deleting the first or second data from the storage device, requesting the second data from a remote location, or copying a previously captured portion of a broadcast signal from a temporary buffer to a mass storage device. Further, utilizing the relational metadata, personalized viewing content and experiences may be created by a viewer.