In most cases, North American cable providers do not broadcast channel names and LCNs in such a way that clear QAM tuners can receive them. (Channel data is transmitted in an "out-of-band" frequency using a different modulation system.)

When the name for a given channel is not available, TV Server assigns the name as:
Unknown <frequency>-<hexadecimal format service ID>

There are two problems with this:
1. Users don't know the pattern, so it just looks like a weird number.
2. There is a better format to use.

Users can request a channel "lineup" (listing) from their provider which shows the names and "QAM channel numbers" of the channels which are broadcast unencrypted. These "QAM channel numbers" don't seem to be defined by any standard, however we can see they take the form:

<physical channel number>.<service ID>

Note, although in the same form as ATSC two part channel numbers defined by ATSC in A/65 and SCTE in ANSI SCTE 65, they are ***not*** the same thing!!!

It would be better to use the above convention as it allows users to more quickly identify and rename their channels.