Guide contains no programmes
Channels are declared but there is no schedule, so viewers see an empty guide.
What it means
The guide has <channel> elements but no <programme> elements, so it describes which channels exist without saying what is on any of them.
Why it matters
The channel list will populate and every channel will show an empty schedule. This normally means the generation job listed channels then failed before writing the schedule, or the source feed returned nothing for the requested window.
How to fix it
- Check the guide generation job completed rather than failing part-way.
- Confirm the upstream data source returned programmes for the requested date range.
- Look at the file size — a guide with channels but no programmes is suspiciously small.
Check your own stream
The free EPG checker runs this check on every analysis and links each finding straight back here.
Open the EPG checker →Frequently asked questions
- What does "Guide contains no programmes" mean?
- The guide has <channel> elements but no <programme> elements, so it describes which channels exist without saying what is on any of them.
- Why does it matter?
- The channel list will populate and every channel will show an empty schedule. This normally means the generation job listed channels then failed before writing the schedule, or the source feed returned nothing for the requested window.
- How do I fix it?
- 1. Check the guide generation job completed rather than failing part-way. 2. Confirm the upstream data source returned programmes for the requested date range. 3. Look at the file size — a guide with channels but no programmes is suspiciously small.
- How can I detect this automatically?
- Paste your XMLTV programme guides URL into StreamTest's free EPG checker. It runs this check on every analysis, flags the finding, and links straight back to this page — no sign-up required.
Related Programme guides checks
- XMLTV timestamps have no UTC offsetTimestamps without an explicit offset are ambiguous, and are the usual cause of a guide that appears shifted by whole hours.
- XMLTV guide has holes in a channel scheduleConsecutive programmes do not join up, leaving blank stretches in the guide.
- XMLTV guide does not extend far enough aheadThe guide runs out within hours, so viewers lose programme information partway through the day.
- The guide is not well-formed XMLThe document could not be parsed as XML, so nothing else could be checked.
- The document has no <tv> root elementThe XML parsed, but its root is not <tv>, so it is not an XMLTV guide.
- Guide declares no channelsWithout <channel> elements there is nothing for a playlist to match against.