EPG (Electronic Program Guide) is the "TV guide" overlay you see in TiviMate, IPTV Smarters, and every decent IPTV player. It's not part of the video stream — it's a separate XML feed in a format called XMLTV. Here's how to set one up, and how to fix the common "EPG is empty" problem.
Where EPG comes from
- Your IPTV provider (easiest). If you're on Xtream Codes, EPG auto-loads. Otherwise, your provider usually offers a separate XMLTV URL.
- epgshare01.online (free, community-maintained). Comprehensive EPG for UK, US, CA, AU channels. 7-day guide.
- epg.pw (free, pan-European). Strong on DACH and Nordic broadcasters.
- iptv-org/epg (free, GitHub). Open-source, 200+ countries. Requires a bit more setup.
Adding EPG to TiviMate
- Settings → Playlists → your playlist → EPG sources.
- Add URL. Paste the XMLTV URL from your provider (or epgshare01.online/epg_ripper_UK1.xml.gz).
- Save. TiviMate refreshes the EPG automatically every 12 hours.
Adding EPG to IPTV Smarters Pro
- Settings → EPG Settings → EPG URL.
- Paste the XMLTV URL. Update EPG.
- Wait 30–60 seconds for the first load (EPG files are large: 20–50 MB uncompressed).
Matching EPG to channels: the tvg-id trick
XMLTV uses a channel id="…" attribute. Your M3U lists each channel with a tvg-id="…". The two must match exactly for EPG to populate.
If your EPG is empty, it's almost always because the provider's tvg-id values don't match any entries in the XMLTV you're using. Fix: edit the .m3u in a text editor and change tvg-id="BBC One" to tvg-id="BBCOneHD.uk" (or whatever the XMLTV feed uses). Free tools like m3u4u.com will auto-match channels for you.
Multiple EPG sources (TiviMate Premium)
Premium users can chain multiple XMLTV URLs. TiviMate tries them in order: if the primary source has no data for a channel, it falls back to the next. This fixes "90% of channels have EPG but a few are blank" — very common when mixing a UK-focused provider with European channels.