A program play control method and a digital television device are disclosed. The method includes: reading section data from received transport stream TS data packets, and directly saving the section data in a nonvolatile memory without parsing, where the section data carries program specific information PSI and system information SI; if audio/video data carried in a TS data packet corresponding to the PSI needs to be played, parsing the section data to obtain the PSI and the SI, and saving the PSI and the SI; and reading the PSI from the memory, playing, according to the PSI, the audio/video data carried in the TS data packet corresponding to the PSI, reading the SI from the memory, and displaying the SI. Implementation of embodiments of the present invention can save storage space of a memory and a nonvolatile memory in a case in which no loss of PSI/SI is ensured.