A system and method for distributing data, including television, video and audio data. One embodiment of the system includes a first media processing unit coupled to a data bus, the first media processing unit comprising a first decoder and a first interface unit; a second media processing unit coupled to a data bus, the second media processing unit comprising a second decoder and a second interface unit; and a communications processing unit connected to the first media processing unit and the second media processing unit, the communications processing unit configured to receive data from a telephone network and provide the received data to at least one of the first media processing unit and the second media processing unit.