The Alphabet Soup of TV Networks

Longtime readers will know that I often confuse one of the Big Three television networks for another. I’ll say a TV show aired on ABC when it actually aired on NBC or that CBS was responsible for something when it was really ABC. Sometimes these are honest mistakes made due to an incorrect source or not proofreading. Usually, though, it just happens while I’m typing. Whenever I see a comment pointing the error I think “Again? Why does this keep happening?”

Maybe it’s because I spend so much time reading about ABC, CBS, and NBC. Maybe after years spent pouring through newspaper and magazine articles, reviews, reference books, and Nielsen reports I’ve lost the ability to easily differentiate between the Big Three. You can sort of understand confusing ABC and NBC because they both end in BC. But ABC and CBS or NBC and CBS?

Another possibility is that when I’m reading I’m not even seeing the network initials the way when you’re reading a novel you don’t always see the full names of characters or places you just recognize that they’re who or what they are.

Am I the only one who has this problem? I’d like to think I’m not alone in regularly mixing up the networks but who knows.


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2 Replies to “The Alphabet Soup of TV Networks”

  1. No you aren’t alone in making these typos, speaking as one who spends the better part of each day behind a monitor and keypad. Acronyms and details sometimes are hard to distinguish, even after the most careful (it seems) checking.

    There is one detail that you missed. ABC. CBS, and NBC each share two letters.

    Don’t beat up on yourself. You have a proven track record of running a great site, and I appreciate everything that you do and the time that you spend on it. Thanks!

    1. See? I can’t even write about ABC, CBS, and NBC without making mistakes. I’ve fixed that.

      (What I was trying to say, I think, is that ABC and NBC end in the same two letters while ABC and CBS or NBC and CBS don’t.)

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