FastChannels - FAST Channels aggregator/manager

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#2510

FastChannels 5.0.4 — What's New

:spiral_calendar: Guide data: duplicate/repeating episodes fixed on a lot of channels

If your DVR (Channels DVR, etc.) was showing the same episode number over and over on channels like Pluto's Big Brother cameras, news blocks, game-show rotations, or other 24/7-style channels — and only recording/keeping one airing instead of each one — that's fixed. Turns out a bunch of these live/rotating channels were sending duplicate or placeholder episode info upstream, which made your DVR think every airing was a rerun of the same thing. No migration to old data, but as your run new scrapes, the fix will be in those programs.

Fixed across: Pluto, LG Channels, LocalNow, Plex, Roku, Xumo, Vizio, Tubi, TCL, Sling, Cox, Fubo, Warner (TBS/TNT/truTV), AMC Networks, and Philo. (Frndly TV got the same protection preemptively — will confirm once we can re-test it.)

:satellite: TV Everywhere (TVE) fixes

  • NBC: local NBC affiliate was showing one station for everyone, regardless of where you actually live. Now it looks up your real local market automatically.
  • FOX One: local FOX affiliate (channel guide + playback) could come back empty even with a ZIP code entered — fixed, and your home ZIP now lives in one shared spot (Settings → TV Everywhere) instead of being FOX-One-specific.
  • AMC Networks: the "Sign in" button could silently do nothing if you already had a valid session — looked successful but didn't actually re-check your login. Now it always does a real check.
  • Fixed the "FOX Sports TVE" vs "FOX TVE" name mismatch in the sign-in screen — same source, was showing two different names.
  • Gracenote guide-ID matching is smarter about call signs now, so TVE channels get matched to the right guide listing more often.

:arrow_forward: Playback reliability

  • Kaloopy (ViewTV): fixed segment errors caused by the channel's own CDN evicting video faster than it advertised.
  • PrismCast: hardened against a rare case where a slow response could accidentally trigger a second capture on top of the first.
  • DirecTV: after a background re-login, your channels now refrting up to 12 hours for the next scheduled scrape.

:hammer_and_wrench: Smaller fixes

  • Pluto: you can now choose anonymous sign-in or a full accouning everyone through login.
  • PBS: local station subchannels now show their real branding (e.g. "Create", "The West Virginia Channel") instead of a generic "Local Subchannel 1/2".
  • Hallmark: fixed a scraper break caused by Hallmark renaming. Guarded against it happening again.
  • Scrape/guide-refresh performance improved noticeably on larger setups.
  • Admin scrape progress bars no longer get stuck at 0 for a few TVE sources) while EPG is actually loading fine in the background.
4 Likes
#2511

When do you sleep man???

1 Like
#2512

Thanks, it's not a big issue. I was just looking for a way to get PBS NewsHour at 6:00 p.m. ET instead of 7:00 p.m. because our PBS Feeds app has gone in the weeds apparently. I looked in the guide and saw that some of the channels had it at 6:00 p.m. so I tried one and quickly discovered that it wasn't actually the main PBS feed.

#2513

for sure- PBS stations DRM their Main and Kids feeds. I threw in a selection of other feeds they don't DRM, but if you have DRM-Bridge setup with Prismcast, you are able to watch the Main/Kids feeds now.

1 Like
#2514

We've just released the ability to have a single Custom Source that mixes XMLTV and Gracenote channel mappings that should simplify configuration in the future:

7 Likes
#2515

I'm currently struggling with Prismcast not working as it should in Xfinity. I think it's having trouble realizing that I'm logged in. (I'd go into more detail, but that probably belongs more in the Prismcast discussion than here....). However, it seems to be having trouble with secure browser access:

http://192.168.2.160:5523 reports window.isSecureContext=false.

Fix: For an HTTP LAN origin, enable chrome://flags/#unsafely-treat-insecure-origin-as-secure for this exact origin and relaunch Chrome, or use HTTPS.

The thing is, I do have that enabled in Chrome, and it's worked before - but now it's decided not to work. I double-checked, and the setting is on, with the correct origin included.

While I'm struggling with that, I'm trying to figure out how to enable the PBS features. Are there instructions somewhere on that?

#2516

Is anyone else having problems getting epg data for the Hallmark channels? @KineticMan ?

#2517

Did you happen to upgrade? They changed something and I pushed an update yesterday or Thursday

#2518

I'm subscribed to beIN Sports Connect through SlingTV. Most of these channels are offline until the start of the broadcast of soccer match. When I select the channel and the match has already started, it plays at the beginning of the broadcast and not live. I know in the Sling App, there is an option to start the match at the beginning or it defaults to live.
When I play these channels directly through PrismCast they go straight to the live match, but playing these channels through FastChannels plays at the beginning.
Is this something that I can change in my settings???
Thanks!!!

#2519

I had upgraded earlier in the week, but just upgraded after your message. All is working now.
Thanks!

#2520

Yo- you mind sharing the logs when you hit play? I’ll dig into it

#2521

here is my logs from prismcast, Could the time setting be wrong?? And why would the time in PrismCast be different from my computer??

[2026/08/15 12:56:13.956 PM] [0.1-7kgcvb] Stream ended after 1m 25s.

[2026/08/15 02:36:34.936 PM] Restarting browser for scheduled maintenance (uptime: 6h 5m).

[2026/08/15 02:36:35.587 PM] Chrome ready: Chrome/148.0.7778.167 (GPU: llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7 256 bits)).

[2026/08/15 02:36:35.692 PM] Browser restart complete. Fresh instance is ready.

[2026/08/15 02:42:48.954 PM] [0.1-7a8ca0] Streaming http://127.0.0.1:5523/watch/10125: 0.1, keyboardFullscreen, FFmpeg [H264]. Tuned in 3.4s (direct).

[2026/08/15 02:45:54.211 PM] [0.1-7a8ca0] Stream ended after 3m 9s.

[2026/08/15 02:46:00.184 PM] [0.1-zqsdrv] Streaming http://127.0.0.1:5523/watch/10125: 0.1, keyboardFullscreen, FFmpeg [H264]. Tuned in 2.9s (direct).

[2026/08/15 02:46:54.213 PM] [0.1-zqsdrv] Stream ended after 57s.

[2026/08/15 04:40:24.272 PM] [0.1-bykmij] Streaming http://127.0.0.1:5523/watch/10125: 0.1, keyboardFullscreen, FFmpeg [H264]. Tuned in 3.3s (direct).

[2026/08/15 04:41:06.553 PM] [0.1-s3dtsp] Streaming http://127.0.0.1:5523/watch/10128: 0.1, keyboardFullscreen, FFmpeg [H264]. Tuned in 4.0s (direct).

[2026/08/15 04:41:24.459 PM] [0.1-bykmij] Stream ended after 1m 4s.

[2026/08/15 04:42:04.434 PM] [0.1-d5iy0v] Streaming http://127.0.0.1:5523/watch/10129: 0.1, keyboardFullscreen, FFmpeg [H264]. Tuned in 3.5s (direct).

[2026/08/15 04:42:24.467 PM] [0.1-s3dtsp] Stream ended after 1m 22s.

[2026/08/15 04:45:24.474 PM] [0.1-d5iy0v] Stream ended after 3m 23s.

[2026/08/15 04:46:01.249 PM] [0.1-xoahl3] Streaming http://127.0.0.1:5523/watch/10128: 0.1, keyboardFullscreen, FFmpeg [H264]. Tuned in 3.5s (direct).

[2026/08/15 04:46:25.948 PM] [0.1-6qrlrt] Streaming http://127.0.0.1:5523/watch/10129: 0.1, keyboardFullscreen, FFmpeg [H264]. Tuned in 3.4s (direct).

[2026/08/15 04:51:01.763 PM] [0.1-4j9u4b] Streaming http://127.0.0.1:5523/watch/10131: 0.1, keyboardFullscreen, FFmpeg [H264]. Tuned in 3.7s (direct).

[2026/08/15 04:51:34.493 PM] [0.1-xoahl3] Stream ended after 5m 37s.

[2026/08/15 04:51:34.502 PM] [0.1-6qrlrt] Stream ended after 5m 12s.

#2522

Last few logs in FastChannels:
2026-08-15 11:35:55,859 INFO app.routes.play: [play] request_id=dfb5cf38f3a4f1d6 ip=192.168.1.79 source=frndlytv channel_id=54 channel_name=MOVIES!
2026-08-15 11:35:56,722 INFO app.routes.play: [play] request_id=81eeda3313e7ab39 ip=192.168.1.79 source=plex channel_id=639a0b83812b6c1429f7acd1 channel_name=BritBox Mysteries
2026-08-15 11:38:36,345 INFO main: [scheduler] Enqueued roku (interval=60m, age=60m)
2026-08-15 11:38:36,722 INFO app.worker: [roku] Scrape job started
2026-08-15 11:38:37,563 INFO app.scrapers.roku: [roku] 814 channels fetched
2026-08-15 11:38:37,698 INFO app.scrapers.roku: [roku] EPG skip: 813/814 channels (fresh, no-schedule, or disabled), skipping content proxy
2026-08-15 11:38:38,302 INFO app.worker: [xml-cache] enqueued refresh job
2026-08-15 11:38:38,302 INFO app.worker: [roku] Scrape complete — 814 channels, 0 programs (1.6s)
2026-08-15 11:38:38,313 INFO app.routes.images: [images] pre-warm starting: 814 URLs — 814 already fresh, 0 to fetch (4 workers)
2026-08-15 11:38:38,313 INFO app.routes.images: [images] pre-warm done: 0 cached, 814 already fresh, 0 failed (of 814 total)

#2523

Hello KineticMan,

I have v5.0.4 running in Docker. Now the Series ID is back but it has a fastchannels/ prefix instead of a pluto/ prefix. So it's not recognizing my existing passes and recordings.

For example: SeriesID == fastchannels/6a6a558f8a82c01510251277.

Should be: SeriesID == pluto/6a6a558f8a82c01510251277.

Would it fix my issue if I edit line 246 of xmltv.py to replace 'fastchannels' with 'pluto':

246: SubElement(el, 'series-id', system='fastchannels').text = series_id

Would this break any of the other Pluto functionality? I am using the Native (scraped-only) endpoints — advanced URLs with the Pluto feed. I'm not using it for any other feeds.

Thank you!
retrostream

--- UPDATE ---

I also had to edit line 196 of the xmltv.py file to get the Series ID is recognized and mark the recorded episodes.

196: system = 'dd_progid' if _is_tms_id(episode_id) else 'pluto'

However, the episodes no longer show up in the guide -- either the Channels guide or the localhost:5523/admin/guide. Any idea how to fix this?

In an unrelated issue, the Native M3U file points the channel logo to localhost, not the container hostname. For example:

tvg-logo="http://localhost:5523/logos/08e03280659b3b9be49c4e86b6c55be8.png"

I am not running the docker container on the same device as the Channels DVR, so I edited line 1029 of the m3u.py file, by explicitly changing it to http://hostname_of_docker_container:5523 and it loads all of the logo URLs properly. Thanks.

Advanced Pass EpisodeNumber CONTAINS?
#2524

Any idea why when watching Plex channels I get "connection to the tuner was lost. Pass play to try again" when coming back from commercial. No problem with other feeds. Thanks.

#2525

The channel bit rate and the commercials they are inserting aren't at the same quality.
The problem occurs when it comes out of the break and switches back to the fast channel provider.
I had to stop using a plex source due to drops.

#2526

Thanks, any fix other than hit play? I don't remember the problem with the jgomez container.Appreciate the help.

#2527

Confirmed, but still a slight Gracenote mapping issue for local affiliates. This is a tough one, but it's picking the SD code instead of the HD, which FC again thinks is the worst match.

image
...
image

Confirmed!

As an aside, for this and pretty much any of these TVE stations, I've got more things you can use to get default Gracenote IDs. This is the default "all" station list for HENA:

Seen here is the tvc_guide_stationid that should be able to help make matches, except for local affiliates that need more info. I might be doing a flat spreadsheet version in the near future for some capabilities I'm adding to PLM, but this is ready now.

Per my previous notes, you should probably exclude the Subchannel_1/2 versions of Create, World, NHK World, and FNX because they are the exact same feeds as the national one. In these local markets on OTA they are sometimes cutting in other programs, but that is not reflected on what is transmitted on the web. The other locals that are unique are fine, though.

Am I going to have to remove my source to get this to work? Because it didn't auto-populate my existing Cox.

#2528

Agree.

#2529

I think I’m lost here. What do you guys want to see for these recordings? I’m trying to do my best for CDVR recordings.

Edit- at some point, i’m gonna have to pick something and stick with it so your record recordings stick. If I keep changing, CDVR gonna always be confused.

1 Like