How to add the EPG guide

Two files, not one

Your channel list and your programme guide are different things. The list says which channels exist and where they are; the guide, in XMLTV format, says what each one broadcasts and when. They are separate files, often from different servers, and they have to be matched up.

That matching is the crux. Every programme in the XMLTV is tagged with a channel identifier, and every channel in your playlist carries its tvg-id. If the two agree, the schedule appears. If not, the channel shows empty even though the guide loaded perfectly.

In most cases you do not have to do anything

Chlyra TV tries to find your guide on its own, in this order:

1. If you set an EPG URL, that winsIf your provider gave you an XMLTV address and you added it in the playlist settings, that is used and nothing else is tried.
2. If your source is Xtream, it derives itWith the server, username and password it already has everything needed to build that portal’s XMLTV address. You do not have to ask for it or type it.
3. If your M3U is an Xtream portal in disguise, it derives that tooMany M3U URLs contain get.php with a username and password inside. When that is the case, Chlyra TV spots it and derives the XMLTV address from those same details. This is the one most people do not know about, and it solves the most common case with nothing for you to do.
4. If none of that fits, the public guideThere is a public guide refreshed every night with schedule packages for around forty countries. It covers well-known channels even when your provider supplies no EPG of its own.

So the first thing to do when you see no schedule is not to hunt for a URL: it is to press Sync EPG and see what happens.

If you do have to set it by hand

Ask your provider: what you need is a URL that returns XMLTV. It usually ends in .xml, in .xml.gz, or is an xmltv.php with your credentials. Add it in the playlist settings, in the EPG field, then press Sync EPG.

A .gz compressed file is fine: it is decompressed on import.

The most common problem: channels with no schedule

The guide loads, but half the channels come up empty. This is almost always an identifier mismatch, not a download failure.

Chlyra TV tries to match each channel two ways: first by its tvg-id, and if that comes up empty, by the normalised channel name (ignoring case, spaces and punctuation). That is why a channel called "Sky Sports Main Event HD" can match one called "skysportsmaineventhd" in the guide. But if your provider calls a channel "UK| SKY SPORTS MAIN 4K FHD" and the guide calls it "Sky Sports Main Event", nothing can make those agree.

• A few missing channels is normal. No guide covers everything.
• If most are missing, the guide and the playlist come from different sources that do not share identifiers. Ask your provider for the XMLTV that goes with YOUR playlist.
• If none are missing but the programmes are wrong, that is a time problem, not a matching one. Read on.

If programmes are shifted

You see the right schedule but an hour or two out. XMLTV includes the time offset on each programme, but some providers write it wrong or leave it out entirely, and then one has to be assumed.

• Check the device time zone first. A freshly reset TV often sits in a zone that is not yours.
• If the offset is exactly one hour and appeared when the clocks changed, it is daylight saving: the provider is not applying it.
• If the offset is several hours and constant, the guide is from another country. Ask again for the one matching your playlist.

Related questions

How often is the guide updated?

The public guide refreshes every night. Your provider’s refreshes when you press Sync EPG or on the automatic sync. Most XMLTV files carry between two and seven days of schedule ahead.

Can I use a guide and a playlist from different providers?

Yes, and sometimes it is the only way to get a decent schedule. It will work as far as the channel names agree, because name matching is what saves the case when the tvg-ids are not the same.

Does the guide take up much space?

An XMLTV with a week of schedule for a few hundred channels runs to tens of megabytes uncompressed, and a good deal less as .gz. It is processed on the server, not on your device, so it does not matter if your TV is short on memory.