EPG Shows the Wrong Time? How to Fix a TV Guide Time Offset

The symptom

The channel plays correctly, the guide is loaded, but the programme shown as "now" is the one that started an hour ago — or the one coming next. Sometimes only a few channels are shifted, sometimes all of them; sometimes the problem appears overnight in spring or autumn.

All of these come from one thing: somewhere between the guide file and your screen, a time zone is wrong. The fix is to find where, and correct it at the right level.

How times work in an XMLTV guide

Each programme in an XMLTV file carries its start and stop times with a time zone offset:

<programme start="20261020203000 +0200" stop="20261020220000 +0200" channel="arte.fr">

This means 20:30 at UTC+2 — which is 18:30 UTC. Your player converts it to the time zone of your device. If everything is correct, you see 20:30 when you live in UTC+2.

Things go wrong when:

1. the device's time zone or clock is wrong — the conversion is right, but towards the wrong zone;
2. the guide declares the wrong offset — e.g. local times written with +0000;
3. the player applies an extra offset — a "time shift" setting left at a non-zero value;
4. some channels are broadcast in another time zone — e.g. the same channel's feed for another country.

Step 1: Check the device

Start here, because it affects everything:

• open the device's date and time settings and enable automatic date/time from the network;
• make sure the time zone is your actual zone (not UTC, not a neighbouring country);
• check the clock shown on the device: it must match your phone.

A wrong device time zone shifts every channel by the same amount. Fixing it is often all you need.

Step 2: Check the player's EPG offset

Most players have a global setting that adds or removes hours from the whole guide:

• TiviMate: Settings → EPG → EPG time shift (TiviMate guide);
• Kodi IPTV Simple Client: add-on settings → EPG tab → EPG time shift (Kodi guide);
• IPTV Smarters, GSE and others: an EPG time-shift or time-offset option in the settings.

If the device is correct and all channels are shifted by the same amount, set this value to compensate (for example −1 hour). If you had changed it in the past, set it back to 0 first — leftovers from an old guide are a classic cause.

Step 3: Fix individual channels with tvg-shift

When only some channels are wrong — typically channels whose feed comes from another country — correct them in the playlist with the tvg-shift attribute, in hours:

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="channel.uk" tvg-shift="-1" group-title="UK",Example Channel

• a positive value moves the programmes later, a negative value earlier;
• many players accept decimals for half-hour zones (tvg-shift="5.5");
• a tvg-shift on the #EXTM3U header line applies to all channels in players that support it.

Add the attribute with a text editor on the final playlist file. Note that M3utify's exports currently write the core attributes (tvg-id, tvg-name, tvg-logo, group-title) and do not keep tvg-shift: if you re-export from M3utify, add it again — or prefer the player's per-playlist EPG offset when the whole guide is shifted.

Step 4: Fix the guide source

If many channels from the same guide are shifted, the guide itself may declare the wrong offset. Options:

• use another guide source for those channels (a guide published for your country is usually correct for local time);
• check whether the guide provider offers versions per time zone;
• as a last resort, compensate with the player's EPG offset or tvg-shift on the affected group.

The daylight saving time trap

If the guide was correct and becomes one hour off on the night clocks change, one of these is not handling daylight saving time:

• the guide uses a fixed offset (+0100) all year instead of switching to +0200 in summer;
• the device has a manual UTC offset instead of a named time zone (choose "Paris", "London", not "GMT+1");
• a manual EPG offset you set to fix the previous problem is now wrong in the opposite direction.

Use named time zones on devices and avoid permanent manual offsets when the source can be corrected instead.

Quick diagnosis table

FAQ

Can M3utify convert the guide's time zone?

M3utify imports XMLTV guides with their offsets and serves them to your players through its XMLTV endpoint. For a global offset, use the setting in your player; for individual channels, tvg-shift added to the final playlist file (see Step 3).

Why is the guide correct in one player and wrong in another?

Each player has its own EPG offset setting and handles time zones slightly differently. Compare the EPG time-shift setting in both.

Should I change my device clock to fix the guide?

No. A wrong device clock breaks other things (HTTPS certificates, recordings, apps). Always keep the device on automatic time and correct the guide with the player setting or tvg-shift. See also our EPG integration guide.