Kanallists

Kanallists are organized inventories of broadcast channels, including television, radio, and streaming channels, compiled by regulators, service providers, or community contributors. The term appears in some European and Turkish-language contexts as a compound form of canal or channel and list. In practice, a kanallist functions as a registry that identifies each channel’s official name, channel number or position, platform (terrestrial, satellite, cable, IPTV, streaming), region or market, language, genre or content type, and current status (active, defunct, simulcast).

Purpose and use

Kanallists support frequency planning and licensing, aid audience discovery, enable program guides and user interfaces, and facilitate data interoperability across platforms. They may also assist regulators, broadcasters, and service providers in coordinating channel lineups, ensuring accessibility, and tracking changes over time.

Contents and data model

Typical fields in a kanallist include channel_id, name, alias, service_provider, network, country or region, language, audio/video formats, parental rating, availability, and basic schedule metadata. Data can be stored in databases, spreadsheets, or machine-readable formats such as JSON, XML, or CSV. Some kanallists are published as open data portals or integrated into electronic program guides.

Governance and maintenance

Kanallists are maintained by a variety of actors, including national communications regulators, broadcaster consortia, platform operators, or community-driven wikis. Updates reflect licensing changes, channel rebranding, or technical transitions (for example, shifts between broadcasting standards or streaming catalog updates).

Variations and terminology

Regional kanallists may be embedded within broader channel catalogs or program guides. In some locales, the term is more common, while in others equivalent phrases such as “channel list” or “channel catalog” are used.

See also

Channel list, program guide, broadcasting regulation, open data.