A
television channel is a physical or virtual
channel over which a
television station or
television network is distributed. For example, in
North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60
MHz, with carrier
frequencies of 55.25 MHz for
NTSC analog video (
VSB) and 59.75 MHz for analog audio (
FM), or 55.31 MHz for digital
ATSC (
8VSB). Channels may be shared by many different television stations or cable-distributed channels depending on the location and service provider.