A practical guide to EPG, now/next, and catch-up

The acronyms in IPTV can pile up. EPG, XMLTV, catch-up, timeshift, nPVR — they all relate to the program guide, but they are not the same thing. This guide clears the air.

EPG (Electronic Program Guide)

The EPG is the on-screen program guide. It shows you what is on each channel right now, what is on next, and what is on for the next several days. In modern players, the EPG is rendered as a grid: channels on one axis, time on the other.

Now and next

Now/next is a compact EPG view that shows only the current and upcoming program on a single channel. Most players show it in a side panel when you are watching a stream. It is the fastest way to see what is coming up without opening the full guide.

XMLTV

XMLTV is the file format the EPG data is delivered in. The player fetches an XML file from a URL, parses it, and renders it as the on-screen guide. The XMLTV URL is usually exposed by the IPTV provider — for us, it lives in your dashboard under the EPG tab.

Catch-up

Catch-up is a feature that lets you rewind a live stream to a point in the recent past, usually 3 to 7 days. It is only available on channels that opt in, and it requires the player to support the Xtream Codes catch-up API.

How to set it up

If your player supports Xtream Codes, the EPG and catch-up are usually configured automatically when you log in. If you are using a pure M3U player, you may need to paste the XMLTV URL manually in the player's settings.