Thisguideline documents an English Wikipedianaming convention. Editors should generally follow it, thoughexceptions may apply.Substantive edits to this pageshould reflect consensus.

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WikiProject Television

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This page sets out guidelines for thenames of articles relating tobroadcasting, generally in the scope ofWikiProject Radio Stationsand the television stations task force.

For guidelines relating specifically to televisionprogramming, seeWikipedia:Naming conventions (television).

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.

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 astreaming service.

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 stationSpin South West stylizes itself as "SPIN South West". This does not apply to acronyms, such asMDR Jump.

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 nameDisney 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).

Considernatural disambiguation where possible before relying on disambiguators.

While most television channels and television and radio networks are titled at theircommon names, the titling practices for radio and televisionstations 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 universallycall sign-titled—that is, the title is the currentcall 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 exclusivelycommon name-titled. In some countries, such as Brazil and Indonesia, there may be call signs issued, but they are generally not used as common 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 asSignal 107 (and many others) being amalgamated intoGreatest Hits Radio in the UK, the article scope should end at that point.

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. Thecall 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 FCCLicensing and Management System in the United States) or a relevant mirror database such as those aggregated atfccdata.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 originating stations 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 itscurrent 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.

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), aredirect ordisambiguation 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 suffixonly 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.

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

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) andWGVL (TV);WZZQ (an AM station) andWZZQ (FM))

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

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

• Examples includeCHOO-FM (British Columbia),KPRB (Oregon), andWCLM (Chicago).

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

• Example:WTOM-TV is inCheboygan, Michigan, soWTOM-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 aKPBA (1270 AM) before it had a currentKPBA (FM), andAllentown, Pennsylvania, had aWFMZ-TV (channel 67) before the presentWFMZ-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 (1941–1951).

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 avoidincomplete disambiguation. For instance,KYTV (TV station) is disambiguated to avoid a conflict withKYTV (TV series), as "KYTV (TV)" represents incomplete disambiguation. Call sign-titledWAFM (United States) is disambiguated to avoid a conflict with common name-titledWAFM (Australia).

In titling a defunct station, use the last call sign under which the stationmeaningfully broadcast. Stations have, in the past, changed call signs after their final broadcast (such asKSUN (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 aship burial.

In some cases, the common name of a defunct station may not be the last call sign used but an earlier one, such asKTTL,WHSC (Hartsville, South Carolina), orWBOW (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.

Theprinciple 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.

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

• (streaming service):Peacock (streaming service)

• Wikipedia naming conventions (arts)
• WikiProject Television