Live TV Channels No Longer Included in Global Search

[Killahcriss 2]

Live TV channels are now excluded from the global search. My family and myself really loved that feature. How can we get it back? I don't know why it was taken away. Could someone please instruct me on how I can get emby to include live tv channels in the global search when searching for content.

[Killahcriss 2]

Live TV channels are now excluded from the global search since updating to 4.10. How can we get it back? I don't know why it was taken away. How I can get emby to include live tv channels in the global search when searching for content?

[Neminem 1958]

Try a guide data refresh.

Not sure if that will do the job.

I can search and then see live tv programs.

[Killahcriss 2]

Are you on emby 4.10? And are you searching for them using the emby app remotely? Or are you searching locally? Because yes they'll show locally but not remotely.

[Neminem 1958]

14 minutes ago, Killahcriss said:

Are you on emby 4.10?

Yes.

14 minutes ago, Killahcriss said:

And are you searching for them using the emby app remotely?

Its showing up both remote and local.

Local :

Remote :

[Killahcriss 2]

Ok but are you still on version 4.9.5.0? Or are you on the latest update 4.10? A simple guide refresh wouldn’t just bring them back in the global search if they already exist.

[Killahcriss 2]

Also it doesn’t look like you’re using the emby app, it looks like you’re still using a desktop 

[Neminem 1958]

1 hour ago, Killahcriss said:

Live TV channels are now excluded from the global search since updating to 4.10. How can we get it back? I don't know why it was taken away. How I can get emby to include live tv channels in the global search when searching for content?

 

12 minutes ago, Killahcriss said:

Also it doesn’t look like you’re using the emby app, it looks like you’re still using a desktop 

Since you posted in this forum, 1 would think it was a general issue, also present in the webui. 

I suggest you post this in the app section, when you tell us what app you have issues with.

That is still unclear.....

 

54 minutes ago, Killahcriss said:

Are you on emby 4.10?

Yes to say it again.

Edited September 11 by Neminem

[Neminem 1958]

And send all info linked here, to avoid more confusion.

 

[Killahcriss 2]

Live TV channels are now excluded from the global search since updating to 4.10. How can we get it back? I don't know why it was taken away. How I can get emby to include live tv channels in the global search when searching for content?

[ebr 16938]

4 hours ago, Killahcriss said:

Live TV channels are now excluded from the global search since updating to 4.10

Are you guys talking about the same thing?  Are you talking channels or programs?

[Killahcriss 2]

I personally am talking about Live TV channels. Not tv series, or tv programs.

[Neminem 1958]

Ok Channels.

Local : 

Remote :

[Killahcriss 2]

I went ahead and made another post in the emby app forums.

[Neminem 1958]

Ok but Emby for Android app v. 3.5.55.

Local : 

Remote :

 

 

[Neminem 1958]

 

[Luke 43402]

Hi, we are looking into it. Thanks.

[Killahcriss 2]

On 9/11/2026 at 12:06 PM, Luke said:

Hi, we are looking into it. Thanks.

Is there any update on why this could be happening?

[Killahcriss 2]

Search/Hints returns empty array for all queries including admin on version 4.10.0.40

[Luke 43402]

Hi, what do you mean by search hints?

[Killahcriss 2]

4 minutes ago, Luke said:

Hi, what do you mean by search hints?

In the native/remote client path for Emby for Android it looks like emby uses a different global search than it does when your connected locally. When I'm at home and search for a live tv channel on my computer it comes up fine. But when I'm away and using the emby app on my phone or android tv, no results pull up for that same channel.

 

I'm on the latest update for both android tv and my server is on 4.10.0.40

[ebr 16938]

39 minutes ago, Killahcriss said:

on my phone

You are positive it is also a problem on the phone?

Do you have a proxy for remote connections?

[Luke 43402]

2 hours ago, Killahcriss said:

In the native/remote client path for Emby for Android it looks like emby uses a different global search than it does when your connected locally. When I'm at home and search for a live tv channel on my computer it comes up fine. But when I'm away and using the emby app on my phone or android tv, no results pull up for that same channel.

 

I'm on the latest update for both android tv and my server is on 4.10.0.40

HI there, can you please provide a specific example?

How to Report a Problem

Thanks !

 

[Killahcriss 2]

6 hours ago, ebr said:

You are positive it is also a problem on the phone?

Do you have a proxy for remote connections?

Yes I use nginx proxy for remote connections. I reconfigured some things in nginx proxy. I think I have it figured out now.

[Ladiesman0217 15]

Submitting a problem report here, as I am facing the same issue.

Problem
Live TV channels are missing from search results for most users — unscoped search omits `TvChannel`, but works for one user with identical Live TV permissions

Summary
Searching for a Live TV channel by name returns no results for our users. The channel is present, indexed, and searchable — a search *scoped* to `TvChannel` finds it — but the unscoped search (`/Items?SearchTerm=…`) returns `TotalRecordCount: 0` for channel-only terms, so no Live TV section is rendered. VOD search works normally for the same users.

One user out of 28 returns channels correctly, despite having the same Live TV policy settings as the users where it fails.

Environment

• Emby Server 4.10.1.0 (Linux, x64), Docker image `emby/embyserver:latest`
• Host OS: Ubuntu 24.04, kernel 6.17.0-29-generic
• Live TV source: M3U tuner, ~815 channels
• Clients tested: 
  • Emby Web 4.10.1.0 (Edge/Chrome on Windows),
  • Emby for Android 3.5.55,
  • Emby for Samsung 2.3.6,
  • Fire TV (Emby/2.5.03a).
  • The issue reproduces via the REST API with no client involved.

Steps to reproduce

1. Sign in as a user with Live TV enabled
2. Search for `KMBC`. The channel exists and is named "ABC: KANSAS CITY KMBC" (channel number 488695).
3. Observe: no results / no Live TV section.
4. Repeat as another user (same Live TV flags) → the channel does appear.

Reproducable via API (replace `<APIKEY>` / `<UserId>`):

# Fails (0 results) for User 1:
GET /Items?api_key=<APIKEY>&UserId=User1&SearchTerm=KMBC&Recursive=true
→ TotalRecordCount: 0

# Succeeds (1 result) for the same user, when scoped to TvChannel:
GET /Items?api_key=<APIKEY>&UserId=User1&SearchTerm=KMBC&Recursive=true&IncludeItemTypes=TvChannel
→ TotalRecordCount: 1  → "ABC: KANSAS CITY KMBC"

# Succeeds (5 results) for a different user, unscoped:
GET /Items?api_key=<APIKEY>&UserId=User2&SearchTerm=KMBC&Recursive=true
→ TotalRecordCount: 6

Expected
The channel appears in search results (with the Live TV section) for any user with Live TV access, the same way it does for `User 2`.

Actual
Unscoped search returns zero channels for 27 of 28 users, including every user with Live TV enabled except one. VOD search returns results normally for those same users.

Evidence

1. The channel is in the search index.__ Direct query of `library.db` (read-only):

SELECT rowid, * FROM fts_search9 WHERE fts_search9 MATCH '"KMBC"*';
7877514|ABC: KANSAS CITY KMBC|||

Rowid `7877514` is the channel. Emby's own bound query for the search matches it, and the server log confirms the search ran:

2026-10-19 21:32:24.572 Info SqliteItemRepository: Original search term: KMBC. Bound search term: "KMBC"*
2026-10-19 21:36:36.461 Info SqliteItemRepository: Original search term: KMBC. Bound search term: "KMBC"*
2026-10-19 20:58:23.923 Info SqliteItemRepository: Original search term: kansas city. Bound search term: "kansas" "city"*

2. Per-user results (`GET /Items?SearchTerm=<term>&Recursive=true&Limit=5`, all 28 users tested; results are stable across repeated calls):
 

User	EnableLiveTvAccess	EnableAllChannels	unscoped "NESN"	unscoped "KMBC"	unscoped VOD
User2	true	false	5 (TvChannel)	6	—
User1	true	false	0	0	NCIS 3, Atlas 6
User3	true	false	0	0
User4	true	false	0	0
User5	true	false	0	0
User6	false	true	0	0
23 others	false	false	0	0

3. Same term, same user — only the type scope differs:

User1, SearchTerm=NESN, no IncludeItemTypes            → 0
User1, SearchTerm=NESN, IncludeItemTypes=TvChannel     → 5  (US: NESN, US: NESN PLUS, US: NESN (S), …)

4. Guide data is present, so this isn't a missing-EPG case — the channel has a current program:

Channel "ABC: KANSAS CITY KMBC" (Number 488695) → CurrentProgram "Live: NFL Football",
StartDate 2026-10-20T00:15:00Z, EndDate 2026-10-20T03:15:00Z

5. Why no Live TV section appears in the UI. In `dashboard-ui/search/search.js` / `emby-apiclient/apiclient.js`, the search view builds one section per item type returned by a separate call:

promises.push(this.getItems(userId, query, signal)),
query.StartIndex || query.IncludeItemTypes || false === query.IncludeSearchTypes
    || promises.push(this.getItemTypes(userId, query, signal)),
… responses[0].ItemTypes = responses[1].Items

Because the unscoped search reports no channels, `TvChannel` is absent from `ItemTypes`, so the client never queries or renders a Live TV section.

6. Observation on the working user: `User2`'s "Live TV" view id is `268391`, while every other user's is `251` (`GET /Users/{id}/Views`). Not sure if it's relevant, but it's the only difference I found.
 

Screenshots:

User 1

User 2

 

Logs attached.

embyserver.txt embyserver-63928045966.txt