The guide doesn’t match my channels

A guide is matched to channels by id and by name. When the match is low, the programmes land on the wrong channels or don’t show at all, the cause is nearly always in the ids, the wrong guide, or the clock.

1. Read the guide health

The guide shows “guide 96% matched”, and the source’s Guide section shows Matching. If it says no channel matched, or an empty guide says “The guide didn’t match your channels”, the guide is probably not the one that belongs to this playlist. Check the address first.

2. How Guidevi matches

By tvg-id. The tvg-id of a channel in the playlist is compared with the channel id in the XMLTV file. Upper and lower case don’t matter.
By name. Channels without an id match go by name. The name in the playlist is compared with the guide’s channel name. Case, spaces and punctuation are ignored, and quality words at the end (HD, FHD, UHD, SD, 4K) are dropped.

Example, with a made-up channel. In the playlist:

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="harbour24.example" tvg-name="Harbour 24",Harbour 24

In the XMLTV file:

<channel id="harbour24.example"><display-name>Harbour 24</display-name></channel>

The ids are equal, so they match. If the ids differ but the names are equal, the name match still finds it. If both differ, the channel gets no programmes.

3. Compare the ids

Open the playlist in a text editor and find a channel that has no programmes. Note its tvg-id and name.
Open the XMLTV file and search for <channel id= to see the ids it contains.
If the guide has no entry for that channel, it is the wrong guide or an incomplete one. Ask where the guide comes from, or use the guide that belongs to the playlist.

When the playlist and the guide come from the same server, they normally share ids; TVHeadend, for example, uses the same id in both. Guidevi can’t edit the matching by hand today, so fix the ids at the source or use a different guide.

4. Programmes at the wrong time

If programmes show earlier or later than they air, open the source and change Time Shift in the Guide section. It moves in 30-minute steps, up to 12 hours either way. A preview line shows what would be on now with the shift you chose. A playlist can also carry its own tvg-shift per channel, in hours; Guidevi adds it to the source’s shift.

5. Old or short guide

“This guide has nothing after today” means the guide file ends. Choose “Refresh Now” in the source list, or ask your provider or server for a newer file. Automatic updates can be shortened in the source’s settings.

Still stuck?

Send us a diagnostics log from Settings; it masks addresses, usernames and passwords. See Support.

More guides

Guidevi’s free version includes one source and the guide from yesterday to 24 hours ahead. Premium is optional; see what it adds.