EPG

Description

The EPG source determines the quality of the program design for the channel. It is recommended to use the illustrated EPG for a better view of the program guide.

TMS supports the XMLTV format.

Below is an example of an EPG transmission block, let’s note unnecessary attributes that improve the subscriber’s interaction with the TV service:

  • The <id-imdb> attribute indicates the IMDB identifier corresponding to this broadcast (in this case the show). When VoD from the EPG and import from TMDB are enabled, the broadcast information will be imported from the TMDB library.

  • The id value in the <title> attribute is mandatory for the ‘VoD from EPG’ function to work.

  • <icon> the link to the illustration for this program.

<programme id="78e9a92d-f9ed-4fb6-bcd0-4027ea957425" start="20230818035101 +0000" stop="20230818060501 +0000" channel="Example">
  <title lang="en" id="92">Like Stars on Earth</title>
  <desc lang="en">An eight-year-old boy is thought to be a lazy trouble-maker, until the new art teacher has the patience and compassion to discover the real problem behind his struggles in school.</desc>
  <category lang="en">Movie</category>
  <genre id="1" lang="en">Drama</genre>
  <genre id="13" lang="en">Family</genre>
  <icon src="https://epg-demo.tviplabs.com/images/poster_tt0986264.png"></icon>
  <rating>
    <value>0</value>
  </rating>
  <id-imdb>tt0986264</id-imdb>
</programme>
<programme id="e42ef08a-66b9-41de-ad98-395907275930" start="20230818060501 +0000" stop="20230818100601 +0000" channel="Example">
  <title lang="en" id="222">La Haine</title>
  <desc lang="en">24 hours in the lives of three young men in the French suburbs the day after a violent riot.</desc>
  <category lang="en">Movie</category>
  <genre id="2" lang="en">Crime</genre>
  <genre id="1" lang="en">Drama</genre>
  <icon src="https://epg-demo.tviplabs.com/images/poster_tt0113247.png"></icon>
  <rating>
    <value>0</value>
  </rating>
  <id-imdb>tt0113247</id-imdb>
</programme>
<programme id="4c7ca2d8-d847-4e81-b771-127697471608" start="20230818100601 +0000" stop="20230818111701 +0000" channel="Example">
  <title lang="en" id="218">The Bandit</title>
  <desc lang="en">Baran the Bandit, released from prison after 35 years, searches for vengeance and his lover.</desc>
  <category lang="en">Movie</category>
  <genre id="2" lang="en">Crime</genre>
  <genre id="1" lang="en">Drama</genre>
  <genre id="12" lang="en">Thriller</genre>
  <icon src="https://epg-demo.tviplabs.com/images/poster_tt0116231.png"></icon>
  <rating>
    <value>0</value>
  </rating>
  <id-imdb>tt0116231</id-imdb>
</programme>
<programme id="fe043ed6-f459-48e1-8ca5-3a4e5c813a59" start="20230818111701 +0000" stop="20230818142901 +0000" channel="Example">
  <title lang="en" id="75">Coco</title>
  <desc lang="en">Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family&#39;s ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.</desc>
  <category lang="en">Movie</category>
  <genre id="16" lang="en">Animation</genre>
  <genre id="6" lang="en">Adventure</genre>
  <genre id="1" lang="en">Drama</genre>
  <icon src="https://epg-demo.tviplabs.com/images/poster_tt2380307.png"></icon>
  <rating>
    <value>0</value>
  </rating>
  <id-imdb>tt2380307</id-imdb>
</programme>
<programme id="b96301d9-b436-4ed1-ad2f-c7a524418af0" start="20230818142901 +0000" stop="20230818165101 +0000" channel="Example">
  <title lang="en" id="225">Hotel Rwanda</title>
  <desc lang="en">Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, houses over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda, Africa.</desc>
  <category lang="en">Movie</category>
  <genre id="4" lang="en">Biography</genre>
  <genre id="1" lang="en">Drama</genre>
  <genre id="5" lang="en">History</genre>
  <icon src="https://epg-demo.tviplabs.com/images/poster_tt0395169.png"></icon>
  <rating>
    <value>12</value>
  </rating>
  <id-imdb>tt0395169</id-imdb>
</programme>
<programme id="627bf93d-c846-4f46-931f-29b7f6154aee" start="20230818165101 +0000" stop="20230818214301 +0000" channel="Example">
  <title lang="en" id="3">The Godfather: Part II</title>
  <desc lang="en">The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.</desc>
  <category lang="en">Movie</category>
  <genre id="2" lang="en">Crime</genre>
  <genre id="1" lang="en">Drama</genre>
  <icon src="https://epg-demo.tviplabs.com/images/poster_tt0071562.png"></icon>
  <rating>
    <value>16</value>
  </rating>
  <id-imdb>tt0071562</id-imdb>
</programme>

Attributes

Name:

The name of the EPG, for example, the EPG data provider.

Type:

  • XMLTV - open EPG format

  • EPG_SERVICE - variation of XMLTV from epg-service.ru using index files, significantly speeds up EPG processing.

URL:

Link to EPG file, it is possible to use http/https/ftp protocols when using basic authorization use http://mylogin:mypassword@example.com/xmltv.xml format.

Active:

Disables EPG synchronization, but does not delete an already generated program.

Offset (min):

Adjusts the transmission time by the specified number of minutes, can be either positive or negative.

Depth of import:

  • Since today - the initial startup will load the EPG from the current day;

  • From channel archive depth - the initial startup will load the EPG for the previous days based on the Channel Archive settings.

Enabled for VOD:

Enables the EPG source to be used for VOD generation.

Image Import:

Specifies the mode which image to use as broadcasting image, available options are as follows: First picture, Random picture, No picture.

Comment:

Any comments on the source.

Management - Control

EPG is imported every hour and immediately after being added.

If necessary, the administrator can run the import procedure manually.

Forced EPG import erases the previous upload information and starts the EPG synchronization procedure even if the source file has not changed.

Features of working with XMLTV

  • If the program contains references to images, they are considered as idempotent, so changing the image itself with no URI change will not change the image in the TV guide. In order to change image, URI reference must be changed. This approach provides significant savings on disk space and import speed, especially with frequently repeated broadcasts.

  • TMS automatically deletes obsolete programs, and EPG items will be considered as obsolete if its’ end date expires more than 5 months ago.