The Vizwriting TV guide is the electronic program guide, or EPG, that your player draws beside the live channels: the program on air, when it ends, what follows and, on many channels, what aired earlier. It is included with every plan: a working tool rather than a reason to subscribe, but one a news follower opens constantly for small questions. Has the 6 p.m. bulletin started? What is a news channel abroad showing at this moment?
Getting the Vizwriting EPG into your player
It depends on how you signed in. On an Xtream Codes sign-in the listings usually arrive without you doing anything; on the M3U link, many players need a guide address added by hand.
Signed in with the Xtream Codes login
The username, password and server URL give the player everything it needs, listings included. IPTV Smarters Pro and TiviMate both download them once the channel list has arrived. On the first sign-in, allow a few minutes, longer on an older stick, before deciding anything is missing. Where a player offers both routes, choose this one; the Vizwriting Xtream Codes login guide walks through it field by field.
Signed in with the M3U link
The get.php playlist link carries channels, not schedules, so many players show the line-up with an empty grid until they are given a separate EPG source. That source is an XMLTV address on the same server, built like this:
http://SERVER:PORT/xmltv.php?username=USER&password=PASS
You will not have to type it out: support sends it with your details already filled in, in the WhatsApp conversation where your login arrived. Paste it into the field your player labels EPG, guide or XMLTV source; TiviMate lets you attach it to the playlist as an EPG source. For players that accept only a playlist, the M3U playlist setup page shows where each one keeps that field.
Reading another country’s schedule in your hours
The guide converts every listing to the time zone set on your device, so a foreign channel’s schedule appears in your local hours, not the broadcaster’s. That is what makes it useful for following news desks in other countries: the grid does the arithmetic.
A worked example: when the markets open in Tokyo at 9 a.m., it is 7 p.m. the previous evening in New York through the winter, and 8 p.m. once daylight saving starts, because Japan does not change its clocks. A Tokyo-based channel’s morning program sits in a New York viewer’s evening, and the guide moves it an hour when the American clocks change, provided the device knows where it is.
When the hours look wrong, match the symptom to the fix:
| What the guide does | Probable cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Every channel one hour out since the clocks changed | A clock set by hand that ignored daylight saving | Switch the device to automatic date and time |
| Every channel out by the same odd amount | The wrong time zone on the TV, stick or box | Pick the correct zone, reopen the player, update the guide |
| Still out by a fixed gap after both of those | The player applies its own shift | Set the player’s guide offset or time-shift to cancel it, if your version has one |
| One channel out of step, the rest correct | Listings for that channel are filed wrongly | Send the channel name on WhatsApp; it is fixed at our end |
Hourly bulletins make the easiest test, since they begin on the hour: if the news starts where the guide places it, your device and player settings are right.
Keeping the listings current
Most players update the guide on a timer, so a manual refresh is a repair, not a habit. Run one when listings look stale, after correcting the time zone, or when a channel that had a schedule goes blank.
- TiviMate: the EPG settings hold an update-now option and the interval for automatic updates, in recent versions.
- IPTV Smarters Pro: a refresh or reload option sits in the settings or on the Live TV screen, depending on version. Signing out and in again also fetches a new copy.
- Anything else: close the app fully, not just to the home screen, and reopen it.
Some channels publish listings further ahead than others, so a grid that thins out later in the week is expected.
Why some channels have a blank guide
An empty row tells you the player has nothing matched to that channel, and the reason is nearly always one of these.
| What you notice | Usually means | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Every row empty just after sign-in | The guide is still downloading | Give it a few minutes, then update |
| Every row empty on an M3U sign-in | No guide source has been added | Paste in the xmltv.php address from support |
| A channel named after one match or event | Event feeds often carry no schedule | Nothing to fix; the channel name says what is on |
| One regular channel blank, its neighbors full | Its listings sit under a different channel ID | Message the channel name; we correct the match |
If the grid stays empty everywhere on an Xtream Codes login after an update, or the channels themselves will not open, work through the Vizwriting troubleshooting checklist next.
From a past listing to a replay
Catch-up starts from the guide. On archived channels, entries to the left of the present moment can be played from their first minute, in players that support it; on channels without an archive, those entries are information only.
So the guide has to be loaded, or there is nothing to select, and its hours have to be right, because the player asks for a replay by start time. For a viewer piecing together how a day’s story was reported, that pairing is the useful one: the guide shows when each news desk covered it, and catch-up plays the coverage from the channels that keep an archive. Which channels carry it and how to start a replay are on the page about Vizwriting catch-up and replay.
What the guide does not list
The grid is for live channels, since only they keep a timetable. The 120,000+ on-demand titles, non-fiction included, are browsed by category in your player’s Movies and Series area; the page on documentaries and factual TV explains how those shelves are arranged. To see which news and factual networks are in the live line-up before you start, browse the Vizwriting channel list.
Load the guide during the trial
Use a 24-hour trial login, let the listings load, and see whether the next news bulletin starts where the guide says it will.
Vizwriting EPG questions, answered briefly
Does Vizwriting come with an EPG?
Yes. Listings for the live channels are part of every plan, with no add-on to buy. On an Xtream Codes sign-in, IPTV Smarters Pro and TiviMate normally fetch them automatically; on the M3U link, you add the guide address that support sends.
What is the Vizwriting EPG URL?
The guide address follows a fixed pattern: your server URL, then xmltv.php, then your username and password. Rather than type it, ask on WhatsApp and support pastes it complete. You need it only on an M3U sign-in; an Xtream Codes login brings the listings by itself.
Why is the Vizwriting guide an hour off?
The device is usually set to the wrong zone, or its clock was set manually and missed a daylight-saving change. Let the TV, stick or box take its time from the network, choose your region’s zone, then reopen the player and update the guide. A player offset is the last resort.
Why are some channels empty in the Vizwriting EPG?
Because the player holds no listings matched to them. Right after the first sign-in, rows can take a few minutes to fill. Single-event channels often publish no schedule. When one ordinary channel stays blank while its neighbors fill, the match is wrong at our end: send its name on WhatsApp.
How do I refresh the Vizwriting TV guide?
Usually you do not have to, since players update listings on a timer. To force it, run the manual EPG update in TiviMate’s settings, or the refresh that IPTV Smarters Pro offers in its settings or Live TV screen in most versions. Elsewhere, closing the app completely and reopening it does the job.
Can the Vizwriting guide show news channels from other countries?
Yes, wherever those channels supply listings, and their times appear converted to your local hour rather than theirs. A desk in Tokyo or London sits in the same grid as the channels from home, so you can see which bulletin comes next without doing the arithmetic.