Talk:television station

Tea room discussion

Note: the below discussion was moved from the Wiktionary:Tea room.

television channel

There is a sense missing from each of these. I can't word it correctly, so have not added it, but it's the same sense for both words (i.e., they're complete synonyms, as far as I can tell). It is some local thing -- the station/channel in New York is not the one in Chicago (unlike the current definition of television channel) -- and comprises all the broadcast over a specific frequency in a specific area. Any takers?—msh210℠ 20:17, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

You're referring to the broadcaster, an organization which broadcasts locally over the channel, yes? —Michael Z. 2008-05-06 00:07 z

I'm not sure. When someone says "What channel are you watching?" I can answer "Channel 4", "KMOV", or "PBS". In some sense these are, respectively, a frequency, a broadcaster, and a network. But really what I mean is "the flow of information that is transmitted over the frequency known as channel 4", "the flow of information that is transmitted by the broadcaster KMOV", and "the flow of information that is transmitted by the local affiliate of the PBS network". That's different from a frequency or a broadcaster or a network. Isn't it?—msh210℠ 19:01, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, maybe. But you are identifying that flow by naming its frequency, the organization broadcasting it, or the network it is associated with. An analogy is "what are you reading?" The response can be "Shakespeare", "Twelfth Night", "Act III", "page 37", "this sentence", or "the word 'took'". They all refer to written matter, but they are identifying or indexing it by what the dictionary would consider an author, a play, a section, a page, a fragment of text, or a word.

All of the definitions in tv channel and tv station ultimately refer to television channel sense 1, which ends with "... used for transmitting television." That "transmitted television" is the flow of audio-visual information. When you refer to a specific channel, then it represents that particular flow. —Michael Z. 2008-05-07 21:06 z

What you say about "Shakespeare" seems reasonable and correct: saying "I'm reading Shakespeare" does not add a sense to (deprecated template usage) Shakespeare, and saying "I'm watching this channel" does not add a sense to (deprecated template usage) channel (or (deprecated template usage) televsion channel). Thanks for the clarification.—msh210℠ 21:09, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Hee, hee. Our entry Shakespeare does have "his works" as a separate sense.—msh210℠ 21:11, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

I've added some senses to both. Please have a look. —Michael Z. 2008-05-06 01:11 z