Wikipedia:Naming conventions (broadcasting)

This page sets out guidelines for the names of articles relating to broadcasting, generally in the scope of WikiProject Radio Stations and the television stations task force.

For guidelines relating specifically to television programming, see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (television).

Network, channel, or station?

Particularly due to increased convergence of media, it can be hard to figure out when a radio or television service is a network, a channel, or a station. This table provides a general set of rules for making this determination for television and for radio.

Media	Network	Channel	Station
Television	Distributes programming to a network of stations, either owned-and-operated by the network or owned by a third party and affiliated with the network. May have windows in its program lineup for regional programming. Historically owned or owns a transmitter network with national coverage. The term sometimes is used for a broadcaster that distributes multiple channels (e.g. ETV Network) or to describe a grouping of related channels, also called a multiplex, bouquet, or suite. Examples: NBC, Network 10, Azteca 7	A single linear feed of television programming. May be distributed as a free-to-air or pay service. Even if on a network of transmitters, there is little to no variation in its schedule. There may be per-country variations for a pay TV channel, however. May be called a "network" in some cases, particularly in the United States. Does not include YouTube channels, etc. Examples: Channel 5 (British TV channel), Das Erste, ESPN2	Broadcasts local programming and possibly national network programming. Typically owns its own transmission facility; there is an identifiable transmitter (or transmitters) that belongs to it. With the advent of digital television, may actually broadcast multiple subchannels. In almost all cases, free-to-air. Examples: Channel 8 (Mar del Plata, Argentina), Akita Television, KTVQ
Radio	Distributes programming to a network of stations, either owned-and-operated by the network or affiliated and owned by a third party. May have windows in its program lineup for regional programming. Examples: Nigeria Info, CKO, Japan FM League	Not typically common in radio, though a radio station may have a channel number (e.g. on Sirius XM).	A single linear feed of radio programming, no matter the method of delivery (including internet). Even if it has a network of transmitters carrying the same program, may be considered a unitary station with little to no regional variance. Examples: BBC Radio 2, WQHT, Hong Kong Reporter

In any case, there may be variations for some terms of the art, particularly in the United States where "cable networks" are by definition channels (e.g. regional sports network), as well as in proper nouns. Channel 103 is a radio station; Paramount Network is a television channel. An online offering of television content without a linear feed is a streaming service.

General rules

Capitalization

Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Trademarks

Article titles should generally use standard capitalization practices, even if this is deemed unofficial, following the rules of the Manual of Style. For instance, the station Spin South West stylizes itself as "SPIN South West". This does not apply to acronyms, such as MDR Jump.

Disambiguation

In many cases, it will be necessary to disambiguate pages with the same name. Disambiguators should be as concise and complete as possible.

Where it can be reasonably expected that all of the articles with the same base name will be of the same type, e.g. radio stations named "Fresh FM" or television channels with the name Disney Channel, disambiguation can be done by country and then by state/province or city if necessary (e.g. Fresh FM (Netherlands); Bay FM (Brisbane)).

If the title shares a name with unlike topics, for instance CMT (a disambiguation page), then disambiguation is necessary, sometimes including nationality: Challenge (TV channel), Double J (radio station), tvN (South Korean TV channel).

Consider natural disambiguation where possible before relying on disambiguators.

Common name vs. call sign titling

While most television channels and television and radio networks are titled at their common names, the titling practices for radio and television stations are bifurcated into two types, and countries' broadcasting articles largely fall into one of three classes.

• Articles in Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, and the United States are almost universally call sign-titled—that is, the title is the current call sign issued by a national regulatory authority. In these countries, all such stations are issued a call sign. There may, of course, be cases where a group of stations has a common name title.
• Articles in some countries, including Argentina, Australia, Japan, and Uruguay, are a mix of call sign and common name titles. Some call signs are common names for the topic, but some are not.
• Articles in most of the rest of the world are exclusively common name-titled. In some countries, such as Brazil, there may be call signs issued, but they are generally not used as common names.

Common name titling

Modifying article titles for stations that change their station names

A station most typically merits retaining the article and moving it to its new title if it has changed its name. A station may also change its format without changing its name.

A new article should only be created if there is a substantive change in the station's method of operation that is not a format change. In rare cases, a name change in a station is far deeper than a change in format. This may occur if a regional or national station takes over the frequencies of formerly local stations. If a station goes from a local station to a transmitter of a national service with little to no local content, such as Signal 107 (and many others) being amalgamated into Greatest Hits Radio in the UK, the article scope should end at that point.

Call sign titling

Call sign titling has its own set of practices and often prescribes precise names for pages. Keep in mind that practices vary from country to country. The call sign appendix provides more detailed by-country information.

An official call sign can often be found by searching the database of the relevant broadcast regulator (for instance, the FCC Licensing and Management System in the United States) or a relevant mirror database such as those aggregated at fccdata.org. Be aware that many periodicals and even stations themselves do not always use correct call signs and especially correct suffixes. While most call signs, including all in the United States and Philippines, have four letters excluding suffixes, this is not a universal rule.

Where a single broadcast outlet operates several transmitters with different call signs, create the article at the call sign which is considered the primary station and make the other call signs redirects to that call sign; if there are enough of these, a common name title may be advisable for the entire grouping (e.g. Wyoming Public Radio). Where a station has changed call signs, the station's entire history should be placed in its current call sign, as the old call signs may subsequently be reassigned to new stations. Only in exceptional cases, typically involving years of silence and significant changes in operation, should the history of one broadcast license be split by call sign into different articles.

In some cases, a broadcast outlet may broadcast the same programming as a digital subchannel of a full-power station and on a low-power station with a separate call sign. The article on this programming should be titled at the latter (e.g. WNYF-CD instead of WWNY-DT2), even if it has a weaker signal.

Suffixes

Call signs may or may not bear a suffix, depending on the practice in a given country. If the official call sign has a suffix (such as -FM or -TDT), a redirect or disambiguation page should be added for the call sign without the suffix.

For stations which do not have a suffix, if disambiguation is necessary (because the official call sign conflicts with an airport code or acronym), place the type of service in parentheses; for example, "KSFO (AM)" or "KDFW (TV)". This is a "silent" disambiguator.

The use of suffixes varies by country:

• United States AM stations never have a suffix, and FM and TV stations generally have a suffix only if they share (or once shared) their call sign with another station in a different broadcast band.
• All digital television and FM stations in Canada are suffixed.
• All stations in Mexico, including AM stations, are suffixed.

The call sign appendix contains more information and a list of suffixes used by each country.

Disambiguation

If there are no other terms using the title, then an active radio or television station should be presumed to be the primary topic for the call sign it holds.

However, because call signs are recycled, it often is necessary to disambiguate the titles of articles covering defunct broadcast stations. In selecting the correct title for the latter, consider the following in this order:

• Suffix: Can the articles co-exist at titles that will not cause confusion? (WGVL (an AM station) and WGVL (TV); WZZQ (an AM station) and WZZQ (FM))

• Note that this is not the case if the stations are in the same service. WACH-TV should redirect to WACH (a TV station), not WACH-TV (Virginia).

• State or province: Disambiguate by state or province, or if a large enough city, a city.

• Examples include CHOO-FM (British Columbia), KPRB (Oregon), and WCLM (Chicago).

• City and state/province: This is necessary if the stations are/were in different parts of the same entity.

• Example: WTOM-TV is in Cheboygan, Michigan, so WTOM-TV (Lansing, Michigan) cannot be titled "WTOM-TV (Michigan)".

• Frequency, if multiple stations have used the same call letters in the same city and one is an active station.

• For instance, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, had a KPBA (1270 AM) before it had a current KPBA (FM), and Allentown, Pennsylvania, had a WFMZ-TV (channel 67) before the present WFMZ-TV (channel 69). If there's something of a common history, disambiguation can be more relaxed: KICE (AM)/KICE (FM).

• Time period, if all other options are exhausted (multiple stations have used the same call letters on the same frequency in the same city).

• Example: WSM-FM (1939–51).

If two stations on the same frequency in the same place used the same call letters, often quickly apart, there may be continuity. In that event, it may be advisable to fold them into one article. For instance, WBRL (AM) covers two FCC licenses with the same call letters on the same frequency in the same place.

In rare circumstances, it may also be necessary to disambiguate an active station against other, similar topics in order to avoid incomplete disambiguation. For instance, KYTV (TV station) is disambiguated to avoid a conflict with KYTV (TV series), as "KYTV (TV)" represents incomplete disambiguation. Call sign-titled WAFM (United States) is disambiguated to avoid a conflict with common name-titled WAFM (Australia).

Defunct stations

In titling a defunct station, use the last call sign under which the station meaningfully broadcast. Stations have, in the past, changed call signs after their final broadcast (such as KSUN (Bisbee, Arizona) changed to KBZB but never broadcast as such) or while preparing to shut down to preserve the use of the designation on another license (KICE (AM) became KCOE (AM) while broadcasting a loop advising it had ceased operations); in these cases, a call sign is sent floating away with a dead license, as if it were in a ship burial.

In some cases, the common name of a defunct station may not be the last call sign used but an earlier one, such as KTTL, WHSC (Hartsville, South Carolina), or WBOW (1230 AM), if the station either achieved massive notoriety under one call sign or broadcast for all but the last few years of its history with one call sign.

The principle of least astonishment should be considered when weighing decisions about such cases.

In some cases in television, programming formerly broadcast on one separately licensed station may be merged into a subchannel of another. In this case, the article scope should end at the surrender of license/merger, and content after should be at the station airing it as a subchannel.

Other standard disambiguators

Broadcast terminology

Articles which cover general concepts or terminology related to the broadcasting industry or technology (but not programming) should use, as appropriate:

• (broadcasting): Watershed (broadcasting), Continuity (broadcasting)
• (radio): Antenna (radio), Detector (radio)
• (television): Ghosting (television), Revival (television)

Streaming services

Streaming services, which offer television programming in a nonlinear fashion, have a standard disambiguator:

• (streaming service): Peacock (streaming service)