Talk:Multichannel television in the United States

Worldwide view
Multichannel television redirects here. This article appears to be only about the US but does not say so. Does it adequately cover the whole topic of Multichannel television? - Fayenatic (talk) 08:05, 28 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I didn't start it but everything I added is about the US. Vchimpanzee ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 18:39, 3 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Here's an idea. Because it is a term used by the Federal Communications Commission, why not start the article with "In the United States"? I looked for evidence online of use in other countries and it's not really there.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 21:48, 16 May 2013 (UTC)
 * I did it. There goes the "worldwide view" problem. Should anyone know how to write about this topic in general in other parts of the world, you may certainly do so.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 19:42, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Cheers! Are you only referring to the term Multichannel video programming distributor, or is the term Multichannel television also a US-only term? It's the redirect that I thought could be a wider article. – Fayenatic  L ondon 19:48, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

I Googled "Multichannel video programming distributor" and found very little useful information for countries outside the United States. Since it's a term used in U.S. law, I figured that made it acceptable to limit the article to this country.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 19:59, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
 * And I don't know a thing about the term "Multichannel television".— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 20:00, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
 * It's currently linked from Template:Television in Israel, which is obviously not helpful at the moment. I'll unlink that, then we'll be able to come back in a day or so to see what else links there. – Fayenatic  L ondon 20:40, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Television presentation, Dave (TV channel), Globosat (Brazil) and Multichannel television in Canada are some others that refer to it. – Fayenatic  L ondon 21:09, 3 June 2013 (UTC)
 * OK, now those are the only links. I'm going to redirect it to the multichannel disambiguation page instead, and redirect multichannel television in the United States here.
 * Well done for your work on this article, by the way! – Fayenatic  L ondon 18:38, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

User:Andrewwise It's a very US Centric view of the world & most of this article is about the senate's rulings on Analogue to Digital conversion which is a long way from the same topic as MVPDs. I will try to add something about the European market (although the term MVPD is a US specific term, in Europe we generally have Pay-TV companies (Cable & Satellite) and Free to Air broadcasters. —Preceding undated comment added 13:51, 17 June 2013 (UTC)
 * You'll forgive me for using this as a dumping ground, but the digital conversion in the United States had several results or potential results that did not just apply to cable companies, and this was the general topic.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 18:10, 27 February 2014 (UTC)
 * The addition of Canadian content to the article is not my responsibility. If someone wants to add the details of how Canada is different, by all means do so, but the lead suggests Canada will be part of the article. So far it is not.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  22:23, 7 January 2015 (UTC)


 * I made Multichannel television as a standalone article. This article should be constructed from a worldwide viewpoint, and this article here should be moved to Multichannel television in the United States. ViperSnake151   Talk  01:03, 25 January 2018 (UTC)

Clarity on whether streaming services are an MVPD or not
Adding clarity to the article concerning whether the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Vudu etc are MVPDs or not is appreciated. The basic definition at the top of the page seems to leave to door open for including then ("...but not limited to"), and the sections on on-demand and cord cutting seem essentially unrelated to the article without such explicit context on whether they are included as MVPDs or not.
 * I never thought Netflix and Hulu were MVPDs. I needed an article in which to put certain information that was not limited to cable but could also include satellite and telephone companies. Included in that was "cord cutting", which in the case of satellite dishes has no actual cord, but those who are "cord cutters" aren't switching to satellite, by the definition I am assuming is correct. If someone wants to create an article out of what I have done with cord cutting, I suppose that would be fine. I put in all I could find but it still doesn't look like it could be a complete article. If someone else can come up with more than I have, that would be great.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 18:08, 27 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Looking at the "on demand" section, I probably should not have included it. It may not belong in the article since broadband is a delivery method. I'm going to remove the section.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 20:01, 28 February 2014 (UTC)
 * I was looking for some historical background on the term "MVPD" and accidentally ran across a source which doesn't answer the question, but tells us what the answer was as of May 2012. As with most of the topics in this article, there is further research to be done.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 19:14, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * And we have opened up a whole new can of worms. None of the services referred to in the source as "OVDs" has a consistent definition that even allows a redirect. I don't like the idea of creating a stub article for this topic. I always worry about getting deleted. I chose one topic to redirect to just so there wouldn't be a red link on a disambiguation page, and so there wouldn't be a red link here. It's a valid topic, though, so an article should be here. I just get worried when I see these stub articles.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 19:26, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Thoughtful responses, thanks for your efforts! I cannot add any clarity other than I tend to agree that a new page for cord-cutting seems appropriate when enough material is collected to substantiate it, so leaving the existing info in this page with a proposal to separate may stimulate more contributions to create a new robust separate page for cord-cutting.

Big ugly dishes
I thought we were going to have to include the large dishes, but once people buy those, they don't pay for the programming. And while I couldn't find an article on the topic earlier, leading me to believe that made putting details here necessary, now I'm thinking it shouldn't even be here.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 20:47, 25 March 2014 (UTC)
 * I took out the section but did a couple of things with the text. First I put it in where it would be needed to make clear what were meant by big ugly dishes. Then I realized chronological would work better even if big ugly dishes are off topic. I will do some further research because I think big ugly dishes may qualify as MVPDs, even if they didn't to begin with.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 21:24, 9 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Nope, simply offering descrambling equipment may not be enough to make big dishes qualify as MVPDs. I have the information, and it just wouldn't look right not to have it, but I'm not sure big dishes are part of the topic. Some input is appreciated. If big dishes aren't MVPDs, I could move the information to Television receive-only, but then it's U.S.-based information and this is the one article where this is allowed simply because of the terminology. And this article would still look strange with the big dish information taken out.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 18:58, 14 April 2014 (UTC)
 * User:Tvtonightokc has rearranged my work in the process of copy-editing. It looks so much better, but if big dishes are not MVPDs, what this person did maybe shouldn't have been done. And if I find a way to move it later, I now have to attribute this person too. But right now, this is the only full history of "satellite TV" in the sense of home use in the U.S., with a lot more coming once I find more information on the "Pizza dishes". Lots more.‎ User:Tvtonightokc has in effect, endorsed the idea that big dishes belong in this article.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 20:34, 15 April 2014 (UTC)
 * I moved the information. With some effort I was able to make it fit. And the necessary references to the big dishes are still in this article. What is still here does not state that big dishes are MVPDs, but it is necessary to mention them.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 20:57, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

History of cable TV
I didn't think there was one on Wikipedia, but due to my difficulties in finding such a thing online, I accidentally discovered Cable television in the United States. That has what I'm looking for. So what belongs here?— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 16:03, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

Splitting Cord Cutters into new article
It's been suggested to split the cord cutters section into a new article, and I think that makes sense. David Delony (talk) 02:48, 29 September 2014 (UTC)
 * I didn't do a very good job of starting the section. All I really did was dump all the relevant information in chronological order. The first order of business would be to figure out where the term came from. And PLEASE don't debate whether the term refers to people who also get their Internet from a "cord".— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  21:11, 22 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Cord-cutters should be its own topic, and should address both IPTV and the use of terrestrial antennas to receive OTA HDTV programming. K7L (talk) 02:11, 3 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Would you be willing to write the article and incorporate content from here?— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  18:02, 3 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Looks like you did. I haven't had a chance to read it, but I'm hoping it achieved its purpose.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  22:41, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Just from a quick glance, I'd say it looks pretty good.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  21:36, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

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What is a virtual MVPD?
The term is showing up a lot in magazines that I look at online. I added this information to a section but didn't really do it right.

Sling TV and DirecTV Now are examples, according to just one of these articles.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  19:20, 11 May 2017 (UTC)

Article is undecided as to actual subject
I agree, There is no Wikipedia article on the general term. The Pay TV article is about specific channels that one must pay extra for, not the basic services available to most people who have MVPDs. But any attempts made in the past to make this article about the entire world have failed. I came up with the solution of limiting the topic to the United States, and that has sort of worked.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  17:03, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * I just started Multichannel television as a standalone article. ViperSnake151   Talk  01:15, 25 January 2018 (UTC)
 * This is what we have needed. I could have done it, but didn't know what to put there. Looks good, at least for a lede. This one still doesn't.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  20:39, 26 January 2018 (UTC)
 * I did more additions. But what should really be done is a merger with Cable television in the United States as Multichannel television in the United States. Multichannel television in Canada is the example we could go by more, as a lot of the data on that page applies to all types of multichannel and not just cable. ViperSnake151   Talk  06:20, 27 January 2018 (UTC)
 * I disagree. Cable is something very specific. Your general article and this one can cover dishes, phone companies and municipal systems.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  16:50, 27 January 2018 (UTC)
 * I also disagree with a lot of what has been removed here. I don't have time to deal with a lot of this right now. For example, there is a term "virtual MVPD". Where would you define that? It has to go somewhere.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  16:55, 27 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Okay, I see one of the sections on legislation, which has a separate main article, was integrated into another section. I don't agree with just removing the Municipal systems section but I did eventually discover Fiber to the premises in the United States so any information that could go there should probably be moved, with some brief mention in this article. The digital TV transition has its own article and I suppose legislation that never passed doesn't have to be here, but I feel it should be mentioned somewhere. As for wireless broadband and its effect on MVPDs, we certainly need to say something, even if it's not a lot. There was a time when people in the industry wanted everyone subscribing to an MVPD and no one using an antenna.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  17:08, 27 January 2018 (UTC)

Now it's looking much better. I wish you had stated your intentions.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  19:07, 28 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Yeah. The intent was that there are details, i.e. general details on packaging/cable networks/market share that could be dispersed into the new Multichannel television article, or Multichannel television in the United States depending on whether they represent a global perspective or not. ViperSnake151   Talk  20:33, 30 January 2018 (UTC)

Requested move 30 January 2018

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: moved. At this point it seems as if we have a consensus. Happy Publishing! (closed by page mover)  Paine Ellsworth   put'r there 13:48, 15 February 2018 (UTC)

Multichannel video programming distributor → Multichannel television in the United States – Consistency with new Multichannel television page and Multichannel television in Canada. Attempt to use legal term as an overarching primary term. ViperSnake151  Talk  20:15, 30 January 2018 (UTC) --Relisting. Dekimasu よ! 00:30, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
 *  Oppose - The article's current title is a very common term in news coverage of the topic. Although I suppose it is enough to have a redirect so people looking for information can find this one.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  22:41, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
 * By your logic, Multichannel television in Canada must be moved to Broadcast distribution undertaking because that is the "correct" legal term. It's about clarity; this is a specific U.S. term, and I'd rather have it at a neutral title that can be part of a larger, overall topic. It will be a redirect, as always. Thus the current title fails WP:PRECISE in relation to its content. ViperSnake151   Talk  23:47, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
 * I see. Well, as long as the redirect works. I did say news coverage, but the truth is I don't remember seeing the term in newspapers.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  16:06, 31 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Only the FCC and industry publications do; most people just call them a "television provider". ViperSnake151   Talk  16:39, 31 January 2018 (UTC)
 * I spend a lot of time with the industry publications. Broadcasting & Cable because I used to enjoy it and it was a source of information about radio changes before the Internet, and the others to help me improve Wikipedia. I also spend time on several sites for TV and radio nerds, and I think they use the term there. So I guess I have to concede on this point.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  17:28, 31 January 2018 (UTC)

If no one else opposes, I won't.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  20:14, 5 February 2018 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

What is an MVPD?
I didn't realize the definition had been removed in the major overhaul but it is a problem which I took the first step in solving. Pinging and .—  Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  17:29, 18 September 2018 (UTC)