Haven't you missed out ARCs and GPIs..?

Now you know why I failed my management board

Totally invalid analogy.

For a start, these shorthand versions of words are only seen as acceptable in text messages; secondly, they actually make sense - 'CU'...read it out you say "SEE YOO"..."see you".

But don't the following also make sense?

B1 = BBC1
B2 = BBC2
B3 = BBC3
B4 = BBC4

I don't disagree that the following need a little explanation, but they still fit the logical sequence of the BBC Channels on Freeview:

B5 = CBBC
B6 = CBeebies
B7 = BBC News 24
B8 = BBC Parliament

But there's no need for the system. There's plenty of things in this world that make sense (although it's arguable that this is one of them) but have no practical use.
Last edited by Mark. : 30-12-2006 at 13:23

As I think has been explained a number of times on this thread, they make sense to you and nobody else. About as much use as having your own private language.

why do people refer to CiTV as I5?

Well that's the order they were launched:

I1 = ITV1 (first launched in September 1955 as Associated Rediffusion in London only)
I2 = ITV2 (autumn 1998)
I3 = ITV3 (autumn 2004 - I think)
I4 = ITV4 (autumn 2005)
I5 = CITV (Feb / Mar 2006)
I6 = ITV Play (Apr 2006)

N.B. Those dates are off the top of my head. They are near enough correct to the best of my knowledge. That's definitely the order in which the six ITV channels lauched.

What happens if the person you're talking to has Sky? They'll be getting their news mixed up with kids' tv!

Does anyone (apart from you) use this channel 'coding' system that you have clearly spent so much time thinking about? If you are the only one, what's the point? You have been using codenames to refer to channels for virtually 20 years and yet it hasn't caught on with anybody! Give it up! It is a language that only you understand and no-one else wants to learn.

However, this is my all-time favourite thread on DS (Digital Spy!)

I love this thread. It's just utterly bonkers!! Although I'm starting to think that the whole thing is just a piss-take by the OP...

You would spend a million times longer sorting out the code, it's like something from dad's army.

Mannering: Right ho, now we're going to devise a code so the Germans don't know our intentions, when I say 'A' fire, when I say 'b' throw the hand grenades, when I say 'c' it's all clear and we can make tea, got that?

Mannering ....'c'

*bang*

Stupid boy....

Thanks for pointing out the fact that it's now 20 years since I first devised a TV channel code.

The snag is rwn72, I've kept it to myself for too long! When I first thought of it, I was in the fourth year at secondary school. Another boy in my year would say to me BBC1 when I said B1.

At the time I used I2 for Channel 4. Well it was only logical at the time ...

B1 = BBC1
B2 = BBC2
I1 = ITV
I2 = Channel 4

... because at the time Channel 4 was, to all intents and purposes, the ITV2 of the day, because (i) ITV said "Starting on Channel 4" (and vice versa), just like BBC1 and BBC2 had been doing in the 70s, (ii) the ITV companies had to pay a Fourth Channel Subscription to Channel 4 (or S4C in the case of HTV Wales), and (iii) the fourth button, which people used for Channel 4, was marked "ITV2" on many TVs. Nonetheless, the said boy in my class was a bit miffed at my use of "I2" for Channel 4.

Since the start of the 1990s I called Channel 4 "C4", and it took until 1998 (the digital era) for the REAL ITV2 (I2) to lauch.

The trouble was, apart from talking to that one boy in 1986, I never used the codes, they were just hidden in my mind. I started this thread back in February this year, to reveal them to the world for the first time.

Had I somehow got the codes into the public domain back in 1986, they might have caught on by the early 1990s.

The trouble with this thread is, it's gone through cycles of being active and dormant at various times of the year. It was only when I added my UKTV codes two days ago that I woke this thread up after not having been written to since July. This thread underwent at least two long phases of dormancy this year. During those, I guess no-one read the codes. It's only during the periods of the thread being alive that people have had chance to see the codes, therefore you can't strictly speaking say they've been "in use".

It's only very recently I begun using the codes with my family myself! The second weekend this month my mother seemeed to understand, without explanation, what channel I was referring to when I said "Strictly Come Dancing is on B1" (when I meant "on BBC1").

So you see, there's the problem of displaying anything on a thread like this, it's only effective if the thread is active. What would be necessary would be to publish the codes somewhere else (TV listing), and get familiar with them, in order for them to catch on.

You're either taking the mick out of us all, or you need serious help!

If i need to say a channel i say the name or the channel number (only problem with numbers is sky change them every so often) e.g. Sky Sports one or 401. I find this works, Channel numbers is easiest if i know them as that is definite and channel names (and codes) could get confused, e.g. FX, FX+.
for example phone home "please tape 301 from 9-11pm", nice and easy

With that logic then, surely BBC 4 should be B3 and BBC 3 should be B4?

Sorry, I forgot, there is no logic whatsoever in this thread.

Since BBC Parliament, News 24, CBBC and CBeebies also launched before BBC3, then wouldn't that push it up to B8?

........to stop using these codes!


She probably heard BBC1. When I say 'BBC1' I don't clearly state each letter. I don't have to.

The reason is that BBC1, ITV1, QVC, etc. are already codes. They are codes that everyone understands.

BBC1 = British Broadcasting Corporation 1

ITV = Independent Television 1

QVC = Quality, Value and Convenience (yes, really!)

Using other codes makes no sense. The broadcasters use them and they are nationally recognised.

Instead of developing new codes to refer to TV channel names, why not go the whole hog and develop a new language....preferably NOT one based on coding the English language!
Last edited by c3pod4qp : 31-12-2006 at 21:38

But I didn't say BBC1. I just said "B1" when I was talking about Strictly Come Dancing. She clearly understood B1 as being BBC1.


Wow! I never knew that. That said, I hardly watch QVC.

Perhaps she just knew that SCD is on BBC1, i.e. whether you said B1 or M25, she would have still known to put on BBC1.

No mate, more accurately, they are three letter ACRONYMS

What I'm saying is that the 'code' BBC1 is so well known (when referring to a TV channel) that your poor mother probably thought you said BBC1.

Wrong. They're initialisms NOT acronyms.

See wikipedia for a debate about acronyms and initialisms!

I used the term 'code' as it was consistent with the discussion so far and not wholly incorrect. Let's not get into semantics!

BTW can I b the 1st 2 wish SA a HNY!

It's my 100th post!

H-Y! (to be said as two distinct letters - it's my code for 'Hurray'!)
Last edited by c3pod4qp : 01-01-2007 at 00:24