The invention discloses a channel searching device and method for a broadcasting receiver. The channel searching device comprises a channel switching module, an automatic gain control module, an automatic frequency control module, a received signal strength estimation module, a received signal quality estimation module, a demodulated signal quality estimation module and a judgment module, wherein the output end of the channel switching module is connected with the input end of the automatic gain control module; the output end of the automatic gain control module is connected with the input end of the automatic frequency control module; the output end of the automatic frequency control module is connected with the input ends of the received signal strength estimation module, the received signal quality estimation module and the demodulated signal quality estimation module; and the output ends of the received signal strength estimation module, the received signal quality estimation module, the demodulated signal quality estimation module and the automatic frequency control module are connected with the judgment module. The channel searching device and method for a broadcasting receiver can preferably reflect the strength and quality of the wanted signal in a channel and the quality of the demodulated signal, maintain the optimal gains input from radio frequency to demodulation, improve the estimation accuracy on the strength, quality and signal-to-noise ratio of the received signal, improve the estimation accuracy on the number of the quality burrs of the demodulated signal, and realize rapid and effective channel searching.