The system, apparatus and method, of the present application offers the viewer a set of typical virtual channel types based on some predefined or definable category, e.g., news channel, which includes predefined default settings and behavior. These typical virtual channel ‘templates’ make it very easy for a viewer to specify a virtual channel. For example, for a news channel, the default behavior is to only keep the most current coverage, for a series, the default behavior is to keep all until watched. Such a typical virtual channel can be selected explicitly or implicitly. In addition, a virtual channel wizard is provided by the system, apparatus, and method of the present invention that interactively guides a viewer through setting up own templates.