thebluetuna's profile

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Friday, December 20th, 2024 12:04 AM

Solved

Common Abbreviation Company Names

The current policy regarding Company Names where the company is known by an abbreviation (ABC, BBC, BET, CMT, MGM, MTV, NBC, et cetera) is that:

If the company is widely known under an abbreviation, include the abbreviation in "( )" at the end of the name.

  • Example: Use Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) over MGM or Metro Goldwyn Mayer]

Even if the company primarily uses the abbreviation, we would still like the full name.

  • Example: Music Television (MTV) [us]

However, because various companies are widely known under an abbreviation and the company itself primarily uses the abbreviation, company credit listings for the abbreviated name are entered and excepted; thus creating dual (and dueling) listings for the same company.

Pursuant to the aforementioned policy, I tried to submit a Merge Company Pages update with the Contact Desk for the American television network "Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)" [co1047418] and "CBS" [co0070627] as they are the exact same company. However, the merge was rejected by Marin A. with the boilerplate response of:

Our aim is to be the most complete and reliable source of movie information on the web; therefore, in order to keep offering our users an accurate and trustworthy service, it is our policy not to alter or delete any kind of correct/factual information or credit from our records.

Credits need to be listed exactly as they appeared on-screen for the title. [...]

One company credit listing is the full original name with the abbreviation at the end, and one is the initialism that the company currently uses. Regardless of which name IMDb thinks is the more correct and proper name name -- "Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)" or "CBS" -- the two entries should be merged.

Is there a way to determine when a company's full/long-form name should be replaced with the abbreviated initialism?

55 Messages

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1.3K Points

2 days ago

This CBS merge issue has since been fixed in the system, but the ultimate question still remains:

  • Is there a way to determine when a company's full/long-form name should be replaced with the abbreviated initialism?

  • When does the MGM/MTV rule no longer apply for company names? - "If the company is widely known under an abbreviation, include the abbreviation in "( )" at the end of the name. [...] Even if the company primarily uses the abbreviation, we would still like the full name."

Employee

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Hi @thebluetuna​ -

Thanks for confirming that the CBS company merge issue has now been resolved.

Concerning your questions, the company formatting name guidelines you mentioned are currently applicable.  So our reference is that the company be listed under the broadest name with the abbreviation in parenthesis.  If there are companies currently listed under the abbreviated name, if you know the full name you can make a request for a company name change and our staff will take a look.

I hope this helps!