TV guide not showing on IPTV? How to fix a blank, stale or wrong EPG

The TV guide, or EPG (electronic programme guide), is what makes IPTV feel like real television. Without it you are scrolling through channel names and guessing. When it goes blank or shows the wrong times, the fix is almost always a setting in the app or the device, not a fault with your subscription.

How the TV guide gets onto your screen

The channels and the guide arrive separately. Your app downloads the channel list, then downloads a guide file (usually in a format called XMLTV) and matches each programme to a channel by an ID. If the guide file is missing, out of date or matched to the wrong time zone, the listings are blank or wrong, even though the channels play perfectly.

Which EPG problem do you have?

How to fix a guide that is blank on every channel

1. Check how you signed in. If you used the M3U link, switch to Xtream Codes (server URL, username, password). Xtream brings the guide with it automatically. See Xtream Codes vs M3U.
2. Update the EPG manually. In IPTV Smarters: Settings, then EPG or "Refresh". In TiviMate: Settings, EPG, choose the source, Update.
3. Give it time. The first guide download for tens of thousands of channels can take a few minutes. Leave the app open.
4. Clear the app cache if it still will not appear, then update again.

How to refresh a guide that is out of date

If the guide shows programmes from last week, the app has stopped downloading new data. Most apps have an "update EPG every X hours" setting; set it to every 12 or 24 hours. On devices that sleep aggressively, like some smart TVs, open the app once a day so it gets a chance to refresh.

Why is my IPTV guide showing the wrong time?

Guide data is published in universal time, and your app converts it to local time using your device's clock. If the device thinks it is in the wrong zone, or the app adds its own offset, every programme shifts.

1. Set the device time zone to your city, not a generic offset. On Fire TV: Settings, Preferences, Time Zone. On Google TV: Settings, System, Date and time.
2. Leave automatic time on so daylight saving changes happen by themselves.
3. Set the app's EPG time offset to zero, or "auto". An offset left over from a previous fix will double-correct after a clock change.

Why this matters next Sunday

Daylight saving time ends on Sunday, November 1, 2026, when most of Canada turns its clocks back an hour. Devices set correctly handle it automatically. Devices with a manual offset will suddenly be an hour out. Saskatchewan does not change its clocks, so households there should pick Regina as their zone rather than a generic Central setting. Newfoundland households need St. John's for the half-hour offset. Our coverage page has a table for every province.

Why do some channels show "No information"?

Not every broadcaster publishes listings in a format guide providers can use, particularly smaller international channels and event-only channels. Those will always show "No information", and it does not affect playback. The big Canadian, US and major international channels all carry full listings.

Why does the guide work on one TV but not another?

Each device and app keeps its own guide. If the living room Fire Stick is perfect and the bedroom Samsung is blank, compare the two: the same login type, the same EPG update setting and the same time zone. Usually one of them was set up with M3U and the other with Xtream.

When a missing guide is not something you can fix

If the guide is blank in every app on every device with the Xtream login, and the times are correct where it does appear, the guide source itself may be updating. That is rare and usually resolves within hours. Let us know and we will check.

Three Canadian households, three fixes

• A TiviMate user in Saskatoon: the guide jumped an hour every spring. Changing the zone from "Central" to "Regina" fixed it permanently.
• A Samsung owner in Hamilton: blank guide. The TV had been set up with the M3U link; switching to Xtream brought the listings.
• A family in St. John's: everything thirty minutes early. The Fire Stick was set to Atlantic time. Setting St. John's fixed it.

What to send us if the guide is still wrong

Tell us the app, the login type (Xtream or M3U), your device's time zone setting and a photo of the guide next to a clock. Learn how to get more out of the guide in our TV guide and catch-up walkthrough.

What an EPG actually is

EPG stands for Electronic Programme Guide. It is the grid that shows what is on each channel now and next, with titles, descriptions and start times. Behind the scenes it is a large data file, usually in a format called XMLTV, listing every programme on every channel for the coming days.

Your player app downloads that file, then matches each programme to the right channel using a channel ID. When the file is missing, out of date or does not match the channel IDs, the guide shows blanks, the wrong shows or "No information". Almost every guide problem comes back to one of three things: the guide file did not download, it downloaded but is stale, or it does not match the channels.

How the guide gets matched to channels

• Each channel in your list has an ID, a short code that identifies it.
• Each programme in the guide file is labelled with a channel ID too.
• The player matches them. If the IDs agree, the programme appears on the channel. If they do not, the channel shows "No information".

When we add or rename a channel, its ID is updated in both the channel list and the guide. If your player has an old copy of either, the match can break for that channel until both are refreshed. That is why "refresh the playlist and the guide" fixes so many problems.

Canadian time zones and the guide

Canada spans six time zones, and that catches out guides more often than anywhere else. The guide file stores times in a standard reference time, and your player converts them to your local time using the device's time zone setting.

The fix in almost every case is the device's own time zone. Set it to your actual city or region, not a nearby US city, then restart the player app. In Saskatchewan, choose the Regina or Saskatchewan setting specifically so the device does not apply daylight saving time. In Newfoundland, choose St. John's; if your player only offers whole-hour offsets, set the device time zone correctly and leave the app's offset at zero.

Daylight saving weekends

Clocks in most of Canada change on the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday of November. Around those weekends, guides on some devices can be an hour out for a day or two until the guide file and the device both catch up. If your guide is suddenly an hour off on a Monday in March or November:

1. Check the device clock shows the right time.
2. Make sure automatic date and time is switched on.
3. Refresh the guide in the player app.
4. Restart the device.

Guide settings in common player apps

Most player apps share the same core guide options, although names vary.

• Update EPG / Refresh guide: downloads the latest guide file now.
• Auto-update interval: how often the guide refreshes on its own. Once a day is a good setting.
• EPG time shift / offset: moves every programme earlier or later by a fixed number of hours. Use only if your device time zone is correct and the guide is still off.
• Days to keep / days ahead: how much of the guide is stored. More days need more memory.
• EPG source: some players let you add a guide URL. If yours uses the one we supply, leave it as is.

If you set an offset to work around a wrong device time zone, remove the offset once the device is fixed, or the guide will be wrong in the other direction.

Why a large guide can slow things down

A full guide for tens of thousands of channels over several days is a big file. On devices with little memory, loading and storing it can make the player slow or cause the guide to fail silently.

• Hide categories you never watch. Many players only load guide data for visible channels, so hiding unused countries or categories makes the guide lighter.
• Reduce the number of days stored. Two or three days ahead is plenty for most people.
• Clear the app's cache on Android-based devices, then refresh the guide.
• Use a device with more memory if the guide is always slow. Devices with 1 GB of RAM often struggle; 2 GB or more is comfortable. See our device guide.

If the guide loads on a phone but not on an older streaming stick using the same login, memory is the likely reason.

Guide behaviour on MAG and Stalker-portal devices

MAG boxes and some other devices load the channel list and guide directly from a portal rather than from a playlist and a separate guide file. That changes a few things:

• You do not enter a guide URL; it comes with the portal automatically.
• Refreshing usually means restarting the box or reloading the portal from the settings menu.
• The time zone setting is in the box's system settings, not in an app. Check it if the guide is off by whole hours.
• If the guide is blank on every channel, restart the box first, then check the date and time in its system settings.

Our MAG setup guide shows where these settings are.

Guide behaviour with M3U playlists

When you use an M3U playlist rather than an Xtream Codes login, the guide is usually a separate link. That gives you more control, but also more ways for things to go wrong:

• The guide link must be added in the player alongside the playlist.
• If either link is mistyped, the guide stays blank.
• Some players need you to assign the guide to the playlist manually.
• Channel IDs in the playlist must match the guide; edited playlists often break that match.

Xtream Codes logins bring the guide automatically, which is why we recommend them for most people. Our article on Xtream Codes versus M3U explains the difference.

Catch-up depends on the guide

Catch-up lets you watch programmes from earlier days on supported channels. It uses the guide to know what aired and when. If the guide is wrong, catch-up will start at the wrong point or show the wrong programme. If the guide is blank, catch-up may not appear at all.

So when catch-up misbehaves, fix the guide first. Correct the device time zone, refresh the guide and then try catch-up again. Our guide and catch-up article explains how to use both.

Guide on one device, not another: a checklist

Going through these five usually reveals the difference in a few minutes.

Guide accuracy: what to expect

Even a perfectly working guide is only as accurate as the schedule information behind it. A few things are normal:

• Live sport overruns. Overtime and extra innings push the next programmes back, but the guide shows the original schedule.
• Late schedule changes. Breaking news and special broadcasts may not appear in the guide in time.
• Generic descriptions. Some channels supply only a programme title or a general description.
• International channels sometimes have less detailed guide data than Canadian ones.

If one channel's guide is consistently wrong, not just late, tell us the channel name and an example time. We review guide mappings and correct them when the source allows.

Guide questions

Five Canadian households, five guide fixes

• Saskatoon: guide an hour off from March to November. The device was set to a Central time zone with daylight saving. Choosing the Saskatchewan setting fixed it permanently.
• St. John's: guide 30 minutes off. The device time zone was set to Atlantic. Changing it to Newfoundland fixed it.
• Vancouver: guide three hours off after setting up a new Fire Stick bought from an Ontario seller. The time zone was still Eastern.
• Mississauga: guide blank only on the bedroom TV, an older stick. Hiding unused countries and reducing days ahead let it load.
• Gatineau: a few French channels showed "No information" after a channel update. Refreshing the playlist and then the guide matched them again.

Each fix took under ten minutes. Guide problems feel technical, but they almost always come down to a clock, a refresh or a little too much data for an older device.

Step by step: refreshing the guide on each device

Fire TV and Android-based devices

1. Open the player app and go to its settings.
2. Find the EPG, TV guide or Playlist section.
3. Choose "Update EPG", "Refresh guide" or "Reload".
4. Wait for the progress indicator to finish; large guides can take a minute.
5. If nothing changes, go to the device's Settings, Applications, choose the player app and select Clear cache (not Clear data, which removes your login).
6. Open the player again and refresh the guide once more.

Apple TV

1. Open the player app's settings and refresh the guide or playlist.
2. If the guide is still empty, close the app fully: double-press the TV button and swipe the app away.
3. Reopen the app and wait for the guide to load.

Samsung and LG smart TVs

1. Refresh the guide inside the player app.
2. Turn the TV off at the wall for a minute; standby does not always clear the app's memory.
3. Check the TV's time and time zone settings under General or System.

MAG and portal-based boxes

1. Restart the box from the settings menu or at the wall.
2. Check the time zone and NTP (time server) settings in the system menu.
3. Reload the portal if the guide is still blank.

Common mistakes that break the guide

• Clearing app data instead of cache. This removes your login and settings. You will need to enter them again, and the guide will reload from scratch.
• Setting a guide offset and forgetting it. A temporary fix becomes the cause of the next problem when daylight saving changes.
• Using a modified or shared playlist. Edited playlists often have channel IDs that no longer match the guide.
• Adding a second guide source. Two guides can conflict. Use the one we supply unless you know exactly why you need another.
• Leaving the device time on manual. If the clock drifts, the guide drifts with it. Keep automatic date and time on.

How the guide helps beyond "what is on now"

A working guide does more than show the current programme. Once it is right, it makes everyday viewing easier:

• Planning the week: scroll ahead to see when the game or a favourite show airs.
• Reminders: many players let you set a reminder from the guide so you do not miss the start.
• Recording: some players can record from the guide on devices with enough storage.
• Catch-up: scroll back on supported channels and press play on something you missed.
• Searching: some players search the guide by title, so you can find a film or a team by name.

These features are why it is worth taking ten minutes to get the guide right, rather than putting up with blanks and guesswork.

What to include when you contact us about the guide

• Your device and player app, with version if you can find it.
• Your city or time zone.
• Which channels are affected: all, a category, or specific ones by name.
• What you see: blank, wrong programmes, "No information", or the right shows at the wrong time.
• When it started, and whether anything changed around then, such as an update or daylight saving.
• A photo of the screen, if it is easy to take.

With that, we can usually tell you the cause in one reply. Reach us on WhatsApp or email.

Understanding the guide symptoms at a glance

Keep this table handy. Most guide problems match one row, and the first fix listed solves the majority of them.

Preventing guide problems in the first place

• Set the device time zone correctly on day one, and keep automatic time on.
• Turn on daily automatic guide updates in the player.
• Hide channel categories you will never watch.
• Restart the device once a week.
• Update the player app when a new version is offered.
• Avoid editing playlists by hand unless you know how channel IDs work.

Six small habits, and the guide will look after itself for most of the year.

A note for households with several TVs

If you have the service on more than one TV, set each device up the same way: the same player, the same time zone and the same guide settings. It makes troubleshooting much easier, because a problem on one TV can be compared directly with the one that works. It also means everyone in the house sees the same guide layout and favourites. Our multiple TVs guide covers the rest of a multi-room setup.

When the guide is right but you still cannot find the programme

Sometimes the guide is working perfectly and the real issue is finding things in it. With tens of thousands of channels, scrolling is slow. A few tips make the guide far easier to use:

• Open the guide from your favourites group rather than "All channels", so it only shows the channels you care about.
• Use the player's search to look for a programme title, a team name or a film.
• Jump by day: most players let you move a whole day forward or back with one button.
• Sort categories so Canadian channels appear first.
• Rename or reorder favourites so the guide matches how your household thinks about channels.

A tidy guide is a guide people actually use. Ten minutes spent on favourites saves hours of scrolling over a year.

Guide fixes in one sentence each

• Blank everywhere: refresh the guide, then restart the app and the device.
• Out of date: switch on daily automatic updates in the player.
• Wrong by whole hours: correct the device time zone to your real city.
• Wrong by half an hour: choose the Newfoundland time zone if you live there.
• Gaps on some channels: refresh the channel list first, then the guide.
• Slow or crashing: hide unused categories and store fewer days.

If none of those works, message us with your device, player and city, and we will sort it out with you.

Frequently asked questions

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Sources
• XMLTV, Wikipedia
• Electronic program guide, Wikipedia
• National Research Council Canada: Canada's official time
• Daylight saving time in Canada, Wikipedia
• Time in Canada, Wikipedia