You may also receive time listings in Mountain Time or Pacific Time - things happen. There are many satellites in the sky, designated by a name and number. For instance, there have been five satellites in the Spacenet series, and six in the G-STAR series. Make sure you have the satellite's name and number correct. This is the part that confuses most people.
Every satellite has many transponders.
Therefore, a satellite with 12 transponders usually has 24 channels. Every channel has a polarity, horizontal or vertical. You need to understand the difference between a transponder and channel, but remember, receivers tune by channel, so that's the most important information. It's a plus to know which transponder is involved because of differences in receiver tuning, but concentrate on knowing the channel. Satellite audio has two channels for stereo service.