IPTV EPG Setup: How to Add a TV Guide to Any Player

Where the TV guide comes from

The channel list and the programme guide are two separate files. The channel list says where each stream is. The guide, in a format called XMLTV, says what is on each channel and when. A player joins the two using an identifier attached to every channel in the list.

That is why the login format matters. An Xtream Codes login hands the player both files from one server. An M3U playlist hands over the channel list alone, so the guide needs its own address. If you are not sure which one you have, M3U vs Xtream Codes explains how to tell them apart.

Do you need to add anything at all?

The XMLTV guide address

On services that run an Xtream Codes panel, the guide address is built from the same three values as your login:

http://SERVER:PORT/xmltv.php?username=YOUR_USERNAME&password=YOUR_PASSWORD

Replace the three placeholders with your own details and keep the port number. The address contains your password, so treat it like one. If it returns an empty page, ask support for the correct guide address instead of trying variations.

EPG setup steps by player

For what TiviMate's guide adds on the paid tier, see the TiviMate review.

How these steps were checked

Checked on 2 October 2026. We did not run these steps on a device, and say so because most guides in this niche do not.

• Kodi:setting names are taken from the add-on's own documentation, the IPTV Simple Client README.
• TiviMate, IPTV Smarters Pro, XCIPTV and Perfect Player: none publishes reference documentation, so the menu paths were cross-checked against several independent setup guides. Labels move between app versions; if one differs, look for the nearest setting named EPG or TV guide.
• The guide address pattern is the standard Xtream Codes panel endpoint. Whether a given service leaves it switched on is up to that service.

Three settings worth getting right once

• Update interval. Daily. More often wastes bandwidth and makes the app slow to open; less often leaves gaps at the end of the grid.
• Time offset.Leave it at zero unless every programme is wrong by the same number of hours. Then check the device's own time zone first, because a wrong system clock shifts the whole guide.
• Days to keep. Past guide data only matters if you use catch-up. Keeping one or two past days is enough and keeps the guide database small on a Firestick.

Set it up and the guide is still empty?

Setup and faults are separate problems. If the grid shows no information on every channel, shows the wrong times, or stopped loading after it once worked, go to EPG not working, which covers refreshing, clearing the guide cache and correcting the time offset in each player. For anything that is not about the guide, the best IPTV players compared page links to the setup guide for every player.

EPG setup questions, answered