Live TV Tools

[Carlo 4331]

Curious what tool, scripts or other utils you guys use to work with IPTV m3U files?

 

Been playing a lot with xTeVe but after getting it mostly setup the way I wanted with channel numbers above 2000 so they don't conflict with the channels and EPG I already have setup in Emby found that anything as simple as a filter change wacks all your custom channel numbers.

 

Pretty much makes this tool useless for my needs.

 

Anyone have a recommendation for a smarter tool that maps the channel number to the stream so ordering of M3U channels or filtering doesn't affect the work you've already done?

 

Or do I just need to roll my own solution?

[BillOatman 502]

Filters in xteve shouldn't move channel numbers, and it doesn't in my experience (though I only have one IPTV provider).

What does, every time, and it's maddening, is when providers change the channel name in the m3u.  My provider does that with pretty much all sports package channels, it puts game details in the channel name such as the teams and game start time.  I got frustrated (since all I watch via IPTV is sports channels) and rolled my own solution.  It uses a feature in xteve that allows a channel unique identifier in the m3u entry so that no matter what the channel name changes to, xteve can recognize it as a channel it already has numbered.

 

Here is an example of what it creates for a NBA game tonight.

M3U (Note the CUID field, thats the identifier I added so xteve recognizes the channel, no matter the name):

#EXTINF:-1 CUID="IrisNBATeam-01" tvg-id="NBA Team 01" tvg-name="NBA San Antonio Spurs at Boston Celtics - Celtics channel" tvg-logo="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/03/National_Basketball_Association_logo.svg/150px-National_Basketball_Association_logo.svg.png" group-title="IrisNBATeam",NBA Team 01 HD

And it's corresponding xmltv entries also created by my app, as my provider has none in its xmltv file:

 

  <programme start="20190324233000" stop="20190325023000" channel="NBA Team 01">
    <title>NBA San Antonio Spurs at Boston Celtics - Celtics channel</title>
    <desc>NBA San Antonio Spurs at Boston Celtics - Celtics channel. 03/24/2019 7:30 PM</desc>
    <video>
      <quality>HDTV</quality>
    </video>
    <audio>
      <stereo>stereo</stereo>
    </audio>
    <new />
  </programme>
  <programme start="20190324193000" stop="20190324233000" channel="NBA Team 01">
    <title>Next Game: NBA San Antonio Spurs at Boston Celtics - Celtics channel. 03/24/2019 7:30 PM</title>
    <desc>Next Game: NBA San Antonio Spurs at Boston Celtics - Celtics channel. 03/24/2019 7:30 PM</desc>
    <new />
  </programme>

 

[Carlo 4331]

That's cool the way you write out the XML file.  It's a shame you can't get that info in an EPG file, with I understand where you're coming from.

Curious how/where did you get the date/time from, since it wasn't in the XML entry you posted for the channel.

 

The CUID you write is the key to stopping the "madness" that can happen with filter re-writes or when adding additional M3Us into the mix. Problem is that you have to rewrite things before importing the content into xTeVe in the first place which sort of takes some of it's advantages away.

 

The biggest problems is starting channels at 1000 vs something user configurable.  In my case I have cable channels already up to around 1800 so any channels mapped under 2000ish can get mapped by Emby with my EPG Guide data incorrectly.  If xTeVe started channel numbers at 2000 or made this user configurable it would be a lot more usable in Emby by anyone that already have one other lineup in use.

 

If after manually adjusting all channel numbers you change a filter which exposes more channels then it's back to manual channel mapping again.  Add a new provider to the mix and now you get to start manually adjusting channels yet again.

 

If Emby didn't ever use channel numbers to map things then it wouldn't be a big deal really, but the auto mapping using channel numbers makes this difficult at best unless any new channels you add are above the EPG data.  That's not really xTeVe's issue to be fair.

[BillOatman 502]

NBA took a lot more work to get the game details.  NFL has that info in the m3u channel name.  NHL and NBA have it in the xmltv file, but not with the times set (like I said, maddening).

So I combine that info with schedule data from http://data.nba.net to set the start and end times of the game and its "next up" xmltv entries.  My provider is nice in that is has the 2 channels for each game, one for each teams local market.  The data from that schedule site also lets me know which market the channel is for (for example, the "- Celtics channel" in the example above.  

 

In V2 of xteve I believe he is adding the ability to start the channel numbers wherever you like. I believe he expects that to be released in April, late April if memory serves.

Edited March 25, 2019 by BillOatman