Is Channels DVR Integration Still a Thing?

[Sammy 790]

Okay, so here's the deal.

I finally drop off of my promo with Spectrum in a few weeks meaning my TV and internet bill will be going up $85 a month to $275 plus a little bit if tax I presume. This is not acceptable to me so I'm going with YTTV and FrndlyTV which will basically keep my bill the same while providing nearly all the channels I have now, most of which I don't watch but sometimes my wife does. I'll basically be giving up CableCARD and my Primes for good as the support for CableCARD is waning since the FCC rule change a few years back now. I can probably get them again in the future and that is not guaranteed. It's been a long run with my Primes since 2011 in WMC when they first came out until now with Emby.

TL/DR, I'm switching to streaming LiveTV and would like to integrate TVEverywhere through ChannelsDVR m3u into Emby. Is this still a thing that can be done? It's not a big deal really because I can use the ChannelsDVR interface for LiveTV or just use YTTV and FrndlyTV apps. I've had issues with Emby recording over the past and I've had to reschedule things two time now and right now, even though things are scheduled in Emby, they don't record. Something borked that along the line.

So is ChannelsDVR still done? Is there a wiki on setting it up?

[Luke 42077]

Hi, if they have an m3u output feature then I would think you could import into Emby live TV using that.

[daldana 122]

Hi @sammy,

Yes, ChannelsDVR can be integrated with Emby via the m3u as @luke said. I'm using it to bring in Pluto, Tubi, ESPN+, and NBC website channels into Emby. I'm using their pre-release server (I'm pretty sure you need to use it and not their stable server). I've seen some issues with YTTV on their forums, but not for everyone. There's no wiki, but there are a couple of other threads here in Live TV about setting it up. Let me know if I can help.

Edit-I also use it to bring in my Spectrum TVE channels.

Edited June 4, 2024 by daldana

[n0tanks87 6]

I'm currently using channels with emby. It works very nicely. And using the emby dvr seems to work really well with it. 

[Sammy 790]

Already set it up and disabled the HDHomeRun Primes and did a guide refresh but a lot of channels linger. How long before these clear?

 

Thus far in limited testing the guide looks to be solid though:

Pretty sure I'll be doing some renumbering and sorting.

 

Well after 13 years from Windows Media Center to Emby I will disconnect my Primes and return two CableCARDs and Tuning Adapters. Goodbye to an era, it's been a good run! The best Spectrum could do was going to cost me about $40 a month more so I dropped TV and bumped my internet to Gig. With YTTV and Channels it will still cost me about $5 LESS than I was currently paying. And they wonder why they're bleeding customers in the linear TV market!

 

[daldana 122]

In the Channels server, what did you set the "Refresh Guide Data" to? I have mine set to "Refresh Every 1 Hour".

[Sammy 790]

Rebooting the Channels DVR Server fixed it and the response in their forum from the Developer was Lightening Fast!

 

[Sammy 790]

On 6/7/2024 at 12:23 PM, daldana said:

In the Channels server, what did you set the "Refresh Guide Data" to? I have mine set to "Refresh Every 1 Hour".

I didn't find a setting for this in Channels DVR Server but in Emby Server I set it to 15 minutes to keep it refreshed as the EPG seemed to go blank after a short period of time. Maybe @Lukeor @ebrcan shed some light on this.

I'll be posting logs in another thread when I do some testing this morning.

[n0tanks87 6]

3 hours ago, Sammy said:

I didn't find a setting for this in Channels DVR Server but in Emby Server I set it to 15 minutes to keep it refreshed as the EPG seemed to go blank after a short period of time. Maybe @Lukeor @ebrcan shed some light on this.

I'll be posting logs in another thread when I do some testing this morning.

On the channels server go to setting then sources. For each source click the cog wheel. Click on the manage xml (sorry don't have it in front of me). Towards the bottom you will see set guide to refresh. It's set to 6 by default. Set it to 1 hour. And do it at the half hour. That seems to be the best time. Say it's 1:00 when you change the settings for your sources. Go back at 1:30 and manually refresh your sources in channels then refresh emby guide data.  Both have to be set to 1 hour. 

[daldana 122]

Exactly what @n0tanks87 said.

[Ronstang 293]

On 6/9/2024 at 1:22 PM, n0tanks87 said:

On the channels server go to setting then sources. For each source click the cog wheel. Click on the manage xml (sorry don't have it in front of me). Towards the bottom you will see set guide to refresh. It's set to 6 by default. Set it to 1 hour. And do it at the half hour. That seems to be the best time. Say it's 1:00 when you change the settings for your sources. Go back at 1:30 and manually refresh your sources in channels then refresh emby guide data.  Both have to be set to 1 hour. 

I just installed Channels server tonight and pretty quickly had the DirectTV Stream up an running.  The guide populated with 2 weeks of data. Then a few hours later trying to figure something out the guide was blank for all the Channels content so I refreshed the guide and it is fine again.

I did as you say and went to the sources page and went to DirectTV Stream and then the cog wheel and the only option under guide data is refresh now.  There are no settings so I am confused as to how to handle this now.  If the guide goes blank does that mean my scheduled recordings get skipped too?

More stuff to figure out, always a challenge. LOL

Edited August 18, 2025 by Ronstang

[daldana 122]

@Ronstang

The regular way to setup Directv in Channels is as a TVE source which does not give you the option to set a refresh guide time, it's supposed to do it almost constantly. If your guide consistently fails to update, you might want to try removing the source and then re-adding it back in.

[Ronstang 293]

@daldana

Thanks, I have had it running for a couple days and it seems I only had issues right at the beginning and it seems to be working fine now.

The only issue I have not is doing some testing since I am going from a 1080i source to a 720p source for the movies I care about.  My issue is my cable company sucks and I have constant bad signal and streaming does not have this problem but I loose the 5.1 sound and a smaller resolution.   But something tells me there probably isn't much difference and since I only care about TCM all the movies are old and stereo or mono originally so loosing a faux 5.1 track is not a big deal especially when any good AV Receiver can do that on the fly.

I am recording everything in duality at the moment.  One with the cable tuner and the other with Channels.  I will encode them to HEVC with the custom parameters I have been using for 4 years and compare.  I'm pretty sure I will be getting rid of cable in the next few weeks this way.

Now I just have to figure out how to get local channels for my wife.

[daldana 122]

No chance of OTA?

[Ronstang 293]

2 hours ago, daldana said:

No chance of OTA?

I have no way to get a signal into the computer so I could get a whole house digital antenna for the attic but then no DVR.  It's always something.

[daldana 122]

HD Homerun? Ebay has new or used ones and it integrates natively to both Emby and Channels.

[Ronstang 293]

18 hours ago, daldana said:

HD Homerun? Ebay has new or used ones and it integrates natively to both Emby and Channels.

What am I going to use for a signal?  I live amongst the pine trees.  Not solid but I have 18 in my yard alone.  There is some light through the trees but not sure an OTA signal could get to my house that was usable.  No way to test, really don't want to spend $300 to find out it doesn't work.

[daldana 122]

Yeah, not the best scenario. Even with the used HD Homerun below for $50, adding the cost of the antenna and accessories, you'd be looking at a couple hundred maybe.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/197635362390?_skw=hd+homerun&itmmeta=01K36KG0XPS1V7HZN0C2HSR25C&hash=item2e03fc4e56:g:BGYAAeSwkxpopzDR&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA4FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cEpiECKuOGzcI3dhPS%2BsG%2BeOXZoxQ2qE9i%2FNmpb1dO9%2BTiIOaEyNDPt%2B7fBWM93LOsjsqoRL7OYCwhHBb7XRMgtwKDozoXeMDGYJ8CZFPo5Z9C65FXAww2XtvMC1tp55xhVy8SvJnAO2bIQQM02jhCHbnQhIZglUSKyWjdl6aH0lRCAGAZblHf1lYEdk02IbLSbMSccfgo63Xc85J4BrK5dNiJFCXmbB%2BFLBpQwb2e%2Bv0sin2ao50SCn0bjMS6zYqKRIOrZZohDVicfEhxYuCs|tkp%3ABk9SR_6OwNOZZg

[TMCsw 248]

You can test if it’s worth it with something like this TV Antenna, (direct hookup to a TV with an ATSC tuner built-in for testing) something like that’s all I need and it picks up channels from 2 cities (Toronto & Buffalo) :

If you get a decent number of channels, then you can look at getting a better antenna for the attic or roof and a HDHR to get it to emby.

Note: if it has a booster, try it with and without the booster installed (some of the cheap boosters, boost the noise more than the signal).

 

[Ronstang 293]

5 hours ago, TMCsw said:

You can test if it’s worth it with something like this TV Antenna

You know that was actually the strategy I decided on late last night.  I would just order a cheapie antenna like the one you suggested and if I get any kind of signal that gives me promise I will return it and buy one of the bigger nicer ones that install in the attic and then install that.  Then if I can get the channels I care about with good signal I will go ahead and order an HDHomerun Flex 4K that has 4 tuners and be done with it.  It will be about the same as 1 month of cable so after next month it's paid for but I get to use it for years.  I am used to 4 tuners minimum so I will just suck it up and buy the good one. 

[Santiag0 10]

On 6/4/2024 at 1:14 AM, Luke said:

Hi, if they have an m3u output feature then I would think you could import into Emby live TV using that.

Emby needs an m3u output feature is there going to be one in the works?

[Santiag0 10]

@Ronstang what are you using for clients to watch emby with android tv's?

[Ronstang 293]

17 minutes ago, Santiag0 said:

@Ronstang what are you using for clients to watch emby with android tv's?

I use the built in app on two of my Sony TVs and that is the Google TV app, I have tried the Android TV app as it works but I prefer the Google TV.  The other Sony is 11 years old so I use a Firestick, and my wife's kitchen TV is a FireTV.  The other 3 TVs in the house are LG and I use the LG emby client on them but the kids don't really watch emby except in the den.

I like firesticks for the simple reason that they play EVERYTHING.  I have never run into an issue where content would not play, but I cannot say that for all TVs.  Some don't like certain audio or other features that I cannot remember at the moment.  The one thing I know is the Firestick does it all so if I run into issues, even with a newer smart TV, I just throw in a Firestick and everything works as it should, plus since I bought the Firestick app before I bought Premiere I like them because they don't count against my device limit so I have all my family and friends who access emby put a Firestick in their brand new TV.

[Santiag0 10]

Have you ordered your HDhomerun or antenna yet? I was thinking on adding a few channels to emby with guide maybe 20 channels. Starz & Hbo channels, I have an m3u it allows 3 connections at a time if you want a spot on it let me know, I don't want any money for it.