A method and apparatus for a wireless communication system having a plurality of terminals is provided. At least one quality requirement defining a minimum quality of communication service threshold for receiving information by at least one terminal over a communication channel is determined. At least one quality parameter of the communication channel is also determined, where the quality parameter defines a degree of quality in which communication is received by the terminal over the communication channel. The quality parameter is compared to the quality requirement, and the terminal is prevented from tuning to the communication channel providing that the quality parameter is lower than the quality requirement. In another embodiment, the at least one quality requirement is associated with a service threshold indicator (STI) value, and the STI value is communicated to the terminal for comparison of the quality requirement to the quality parameter.