Getting a playlist in
Every way of opening a playlist is in the File menu and in the drop-down arrow of the Open button. Each is a small wizard: you say where the playlist is, the studio reads it, and you then see every group it has, all ticked. Untick the groups you do not want before going on; a right click on the list offers Check All, Uncheck All, Check Selected and Uncheck Selected. The last page says how many groups and streams were opened, and the playlist opens in a place of its own in the Playlist menu. A step that waits on the network can be stopped with Cancel.
New empty M3U (Ctrl+N)
Starts an empty playlist called New-1.m3u (New-2.m3u for the next, and so on). Add groups and streams to it, then save it with Save As.
Open M3U from file.. (Ctrl+O)
| Playlist Type | Extension |
|---|---|
| M3U | .m3u |
| Smart IPTV | .txt |
| Enigma/Dreambox bouquets | .tv |
| Video Lan Client (XSPF) | .xspf |
| Windows Media Player (ASX) | .asx |
| Windows Media Player (WPL) | .wpl |
| Winamp (PLS) | .pls |
Choose the kind of file under Playlist Type, then pick the file.
Open M3U from URL.. (Ctrl+Shift+O)
Type the playlist's address under M3U URL. The studio downloads and reads it. The TV guide URL box is for the address of the guide that goes with it; when the playlist address is an Xtream Codes one, the guide address is filled in for you. The guide address is written into the playlist only when the playlist does not already name a guide of its own.
Open M3U from Xtream-Codes.. (Ctrl+Alt+O)
Enter the Server URL, Username and Password, and pick a Stream Type: Live, Movies or Series. After signing in, the wizard shows the account details the server gave: connections in use and allowed, the account's status, whether it is a trial, when it was created and when it expires (with how long that is from now), and what the server says about itself (address, protocol, ports, time zone, server time and output formats).
Then pick the groups. For Series you also pick the series themselves, and their episodes are fetched. Channels come with their logo, guide identifier (tvg-id), name, channel number and, where the provider keeps catch-up, how far back it goes. The playlist gets the account's own guide address, and is named after the account and what you opened, so live, films and series from the same account are three playlists you can tell apart. If the server did not answer for some of what was asked, the last page says how many.
Open M3U from portal..
For a Stalker (Ministra) portal. Enter the Portal URL and the MAC Address the portal knows, pick Live, Movies or Series, check the account details (name, package, balance, expiry and the like, as far as the portal says), then pick the groups, and for Series the series.
The portal has to be asked for the address of each stream separately, which takes a long time for a lot of streams, and some providers reset the access token after 24 hours, after which the playlist has to be opened again. The wizard warns you about this itself.
Open M3U from iptv-org.. (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+O)
The free channels of the open iptv-org catalogue. Choose how they are Grouped By: Category, Language or Country, then pick the groups you want.
Open M3U from radio-browser.. (Shift+Alt+O)
Radio stations from the radio-browser.info directory. Narrow them by Country, Language, Tag and Name contains (each can be left on "any"), and choose to Group them by Country, Language or Tag. Stations the directory marks as broken are left out. Every station is marked as radio, and comes with its logo, country, language, home page and the directory's tags for it (pop, news and so on).
Import.. (Ctrl+I)
Adds another playlist file to the one in front instead of opening it on its own. Pick the kind of file (the same seven as Open M3U from file), the file, and the groups, then choose the Options:
- Merge Groups: a group with the same name as one you already have is added to that group, rather than added as a second group.
- Merge Streams: when a stream with the same address is already in the playlist, it takes the imported name and gains any tags it did not have.
- Skip Duplicates: a stream whose address is already in the playlist is not added again.
The last page says how many groups and streams were imported, added and merged. The whole import is one step to undo, and an import you cancel changes nothing.
Damaged text
Some playlists are not quite valid UTF-8 text. Instead of failing, or losing the accented letters, the studio reads any byte that does not fit as Western (Latin-1) text, so names still come out readable.
Frequently asked questions
What does ERD-Playlist Studio do?
ERD-Playlist Studio builds and looks after IPTV playlists. Open a playlist from a file or from your provider, tidy it up, check which channels still work, match it to a TV guide, and watch, record and download what is on it.
What do I need to run ERD-Playlist Studio?
- Windows 10 or later.
- A 64-bit PC (x64), a Windows on Arm PC (arm64) or a 32-bit PC (x86).
- Administrator rights to install.
- Windows' own media support.
The player says "Windows cannot decode this". What can I do?
The player uses the decoders built into Windows. The "N" editions of Windows ship without Windows' own media support: there the studio starts and works, but the player says "Windows cannot decode this" until you add the Media Feature Pack from Windows' Optional features. When Windows has no decoder for a single track, the player names it (for example "HEVC: no decoder on this computer") and plays the rest of the stream.
Where can a playlist come from?
A file you have (M3U, Smart IPTV, Enigma/Dreambox bouquets, XSPF, ASX, WPL or PLS), an address from your provider, an Xtream Codes account, a Stalker (Ministra) portal, the free channels of iptv-org or radio stations from radio-browser.info.
Which formats can I save and export to?
Save and Save As write M3U (.m3u or .m3u8), Smart IPTV, Enigma/Dreambox, ASX, WPL, PLS or XSPF. Export also writes the ticked groups as an HTML, CSV, JSON, Markdown or XML report. Files are written as UTF-8 text.
Can I undo changes to a playlist?
Yes. Every change to a playlist can be undone with Undo (Ctrl+Z) and done again with Redo (Ctrl+Y), each playlist keeping its own history. Bigger jobs, such as an import, a find and replace or a sort, are one step each. Locking is not an undo step.
How do I find out which channels still work?
Run Stream > Stream Checker... It tries every stream of All Groups or one group and marks each with a green star (online) or a red one (offline). It then reads up to 50 of the streams that answered, and a stream that is not what it says gets a violet star. Delete offline streams removes what was found offline, and can be undone.
What do the coloured stars mean?
Grey: not changed. Blue: changed. Green: online. Red: offline. Violet: not what it says it is. An orange star before a name marks a favourite; a red star after a name marks a locked stream.
How do I merge my provider's new playlist into my own?
Use Tools > Playlist Health Center.. and choose Compare with a provider playlist and apply selected changes. You see every stream the other playlist Added, Removed or Modified, all ticked; untick what you want to keep as it is and press Next to apply the rest. Tick Save as provider profile to keep comparing with that source on a schedule.
How do I keep a playlist up to date with my provider automatically?
Set up a provider profile with Tools > Provider Profiles... While the studio is open it looks every minute for enabled profiles that are due, and brings them up to date in the background. Profiles can also be brought up to date with the studio closed, with M3UEditorCLI sync_all --due-only in Task Scheduler.
Can a provider profile empty my playlist by mistake?
No. When the provider sends back an empty playlist while your target has streams in it, the run stops rather than emptying your playlist. Before any change is made, a snapshot of the target is kept, and the new playlist is only put in place once it has been read back and found sound.
How do I restore an earlier version of a playlist?
Before the Playlist Health Center or a provider profile changes a playlist, the studio saves a copy of it as it was. The last ten are kept for each playlist. Tools > Restore snapshot.. lists them, newest first; the one you pick opens as a separate playlist called Restored- followed by the name.
How do I match my channels to a TV guide?
A guide finds a channel by its tvg-id. Choose an EPG code set (SmartIPTV, BaZnGa or DiamondTV) under Settings > TV guide, then use Tools > Assign EPG Codes.. to write the best match into tvg-id for all groups or one group. The TV Guide ID editor (the "..." beside tvg-id) does the same for one stream.
The TV Guide shows data for only a few of my channels. Why?
The status bar says how many of the playlist's channels the guide actually has data for. A low number usually means the channels' tvg-id tags do not match the guide.
All the times in the guide are an hour out. How do I fix that?
Set Settings > Guide alignment > Guide time offset (minutes, may be negative). Guide alignment is an expert page: tick Show expert settings under Settings > Common to see it. For a single channel, right-click its name in the guide and choose Guide offset.
Can I pause live TV?
Yes. Press Space to pause a live channel; the player keeps recording it into a buffer on disk, so you can carry on where you paused. The size of the buffer is "Live TV kept for pausing (MB, 0 is off)" on the Playback settings page, 512 MB unless you change it.
Can I watch a programme that has already been on?
When your provider keeps catch-up for a channel and the TV Guide knows what is on, Backspace offers the programme on now from its start, and going back past the pause buffer offers the programme at that moment. Press Y to switch.
Which streams can the player not play?
rtsp, rtmp, srt and mms addresses cannot be opened, and the player says so. Neither can streams protected with DRM.
Can I play a stream on my television?
Yes, with Send to TV. It finds Chromecasts, Google TVs and televisions with Google Cast built in, AirPlay receivers such as an Apple TV, and DLNA televisions and players on your network. To put a whole playlist on a television running the Smart IPTV app, use Tools > Send to Smart IPTV...
Can I record while the studio is closed?
Yes. With "RecordingCLI run" going in the background, bookings are recorded and downloads carry on while the studio is closed, and the two hand the work back and forth by themselves. Series rules need the studio, because it reads the guide.
Will my computer wake up for a recording?
While recordings are booked or running, the studio keeps the computer from going to sleep, and sets it to wake up a minute before the next booking. If Windows will not allow either, you are told when you book, so you can leave the computer on or turn on wake timers in the Windows power plan.
What happens when my provider only allows a few connections?
The studio asks the provider (Xtream Codes accounts say) and holds a recording or download back until a connection is free rather than having it refused. When more recordings are due than there are connections, the one with the higher Priority goes first.
Can Kodi, Plex, Emby or Jellyfin use my playlist's films and series?
Yes. Tools > STRM Library.. writes the playlist's films and series as a library of small .strm files that Kodi, Plex, Emby or Jellyfin can list and play without anything being downloaded, with .nfo files if you like. Downloads can also carry an .nfo file beside them.
Do I need accounts for film details and subtitles?
TMDB and TVDB both need a free account of your own; put the keys under Settings > Databases. No key ships with the studio, and a database with no key is simply not asked. Keys are stored encrypted for your Windows account. Subtitles come from OpenSubtitles.com with your own OpenSubtitles API key under Settings > Subtitle search; with no key nothing is fetched, and a user name and password are optional. CDDB and MusicBrainz need no account.
Is my Trakt password stored in the studio?
No. Connect.. under Settings > Trakt shows a code to type on Trakt's website; your Trakt password is never asked for.
How can I lock channels from children?
Right-click a group or streams and choose Lock, and set a code under Settings > Parental lock. From then on, watching a locked stream, sending it to a TV, or recording or downloading it asks for the code first. The lock is written into the playlist file; the code is kept on this computer only and never written into a playlist.
Which languages does ERD-Playlist Studio speak?
Fifteen: English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Polish, Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian, Greek, Romanian and Swedish. Choose one under Settings > Common > Language and press OK; the whole program changes at once, without restarting.
Can I open two playlists in separate windows?
Yes. Untick "Allow only one instance" under Settings > Instances (an expert page). With more than one window open, the first one looks after the recording schedule, the unattended refresh of your provider profiles, the download queue and the AI assistant connection. Only that window records and downloads, so nothing is done twice.
Can I use ERD-Playlist Studio from scripts?
Yes. M3UEditorCLI works on playlists and RecordingCLI on recordings and downloads. Both answer in JSON on standard output, and several commands can go on one line. "help" after either tool's name lists everything it can do.
Can an AI assistant work with my playlists?
An AI assistant that supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) can read and edit your playlists, book recordings and look after your downloads: either on the playlist open in the studio (Settings > AI assistants, off by default, only programs on this computer can connect), or on any playlist file with M3UEditorCLI mcp.
Is a licence key needed?
Yes. ERD-Playlist Studio needs a valid licence key to run. Enter it with Help > Activate License..; the command line tools use the same key. Please do not share your key: a key that is shared can be revoked.
Are updates checked to be genuine?
Yes. Before anything is offered, the answer from the update server is checked to be genuine, and the downloaded installer is checked against it before it runs. An update can never take you back to an older version, and your settings are kept.
What does uninstalling leave behind?
The uninstaller leaves your own things where they are: your settings, caches and kept guides, recording schedule and download queue, logs, earlier versions of your playlists, and every recording and download. To start completely afresh, delete the program's folder in your local application data folder and in your Documents folder.