Free UK EPG for IPTV: tested XMLTV sources (2026)

If you are searching for a free UK EPG, you want an XMLTV URL that fills the guide for BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4 and Channel 5 without a paid listings account. You also want to know which file handles the regional variants, and how many days ahead it reaches. We downloaded every candidate in full on 22 September 2026, decompressed it and counted channels, programmes and dates.

OneTV Connect is a player: it reads the XMLTV guide you give it. It does not provide channels, playlists or a subscription. For sources in other countries, see the EPG sources by country hub.

UK sources tested on 22 September 2026

Every URL below returned HTTP 200 with a valid gzip file and valid XMLTV (root <tv>, <channel> and <programme> elements, no stream URLs). The date range is the first and last start= found in the file on the day of the test.

Source	Exact URL	Size (gz → xml)	Channels / programmes	Date range measured	Id format	Main channels	Tested
open-epg.com	https://www.open-epg.com/files/unitedkingdom.xml.gz	1.2 MB → 9.6 MB	560 (552 with programmes) / 32,756	About the day before to +2 days (Sky Sports Main Event: 22 → 24 Sept)	BBCOneLondon.uk, ITV1Anglia.uk, 5.uk	BBC One (regional), BBC Two, ITV1 by region, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League	22/09/2026
epgshare01.online (UK1)	https://epgshare01.online/epgshare01/epg_ripper_UK1.xml.gz	2.8 MB → 22.5 MB	486 (386 with programmes) / 42,200	Day before to +3 days (BBC One London: 21 → 24 Sept)	BBC.One.Lon.HD.uk, ITV1.HD.uk	BBC One (regional), BBC Two, a single ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5, TNT Sports 1-10. No Sky Sports Main Event or Premier League	22/09/2026
epg.pw (GB)	https://epg.pw/xmltv/epg_GB.xml.gz	2.4 MB → 20.4 MB	756 / 53,736	Same day to +2 or +3 days	Numeric (12385)	BBC One (regional), BBC Two, ITV1 HD, Channel 4, Channel 5, TNT Sports and old BT Sport entries. No Sky Sports Main Event or Premier League	22/09/2026
i.mjh.nz (Pluto TV / Samsung TV Plus)	https://i.mjh.nz/PlutoTV/gb.xml.gz https://i.mjh.nz/SamsungTVPlus/gb.xml.gz	0.23–0.95 MB	189 (Pluto) and 267 (Samsung) channels	12 to 24 hours	Opaque (GBBC2300003ZQ)	Free ad-supported (FAST) channels only, never BBC or ITV	22/09/2026

Two more options we did not use as sources. xmltvfr.fr carries only 13 UK channels (BBC1.uk, BBC2.uk, BBC4.uk, BBC News…) inside its 145 MB "complete" file. iptv-org no longer hosts ready-made files: you run its grabber yourself against sites such as sky.com or freeview.co.uk, which we did not execute, so its UK coverage is not measured here.

One warning for open-epg: /files/…xml.gz answers with a 302 redirect to a download script, and a file that does not exist redirects too. A redirect proves nothing; check that the guide actually loads. Also note that a declared channel is not a filled one: 100 of the 486 channels in epgshare01 UK1 had no programmes on the day.

Which combination to pick

• Standard Freeview-style line-up: open-epg unitedkingdom.xml.gz alone. It is the lightest file (9.6 MB decompressed), 552 of its 560 channels had programmes, and it is the only free file we tested with the ITV1 regions.
• Large playlist with many niche channels: open-epg first, then epgshare01 UK1 as a second source. UK1 adds 42,200 programmes and reaches one day further (to 24 September for BBC One London against the open-epg horizon of about two days).
• FAST channels (Pluto TV, Samsung TV Plus) in your playlist: add the matching i.mjh.nz file. It only covers those channels and only 12 to 24 hours ahead, so it complements a national source rather than replacing it.

Whatever you pick, expect a short horizon: roughly two and a half days across all free UK files we measured. None of these providers documents its refresh schedule; every file we downloaded was dated the same day, which suggests a daily update but does not guarantee it.

UK channel ids and naming traps

The general matching method is in our tvg-id guide. What follows is specific to UK channels.

• Regional BBC One. The files carry around 17 BBC One variants: London, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Yorkshire and others. A playlist entry that says only "BBC One HD" matches none of them exactly. Pick your region, usually London.
• ITV1 regions. open-epg splits ITV1 into ITV1Anglia.uk, ITV1Border.uk, ITV1Central.uk and more. epgshare01 has one ITV1.HD.uk. If you watch a regional stream, map it to the matching regional id.
• Three syntaxes for one channel. BBC One London is BBCOneLondon.uk at open-epg, BBC.One.Lon.HD.uk at epgshare01, BBCOne.uk@LondonHD in iptv-org and a number such as 12385 at epg.pw. Numeric ids cannot match a playlist tvg-id; epg.pw only works through name matching.
• +1 channels. ITV1+1.uk and Channel4Plus1 run one hour behind the main channel. Mapping a +1 stream to the main id shows every programme an hour early.
• BT Sport became TNT Sports in 2023. epg.pw still lists "BT Sport 1-4 HD" next to the TNT Sports entries; map to TNT Sports.
• Channel 5 is simply 5.uk at open-epg and Channel.5.HD.uk at epgshare01.
• Sky Sports. Only open-epg had Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League (SkySportsMainEvent.uk, SkySportsPremierLeague.uk). epgshare01 and epg.pw had only Sky Sports Football, NFL and Ultra HD.

GMT, BST and the 25 October change

The UK runs on GMT (UTC+0) in winter and BST (UTC+1) in summer. The clocks go back on 25 October 2026. Every UK file we tested writes its times as +0000, that is UTC. This is correct as long as the player applies the offset. A player that reads the times as local will be one hour out until 25 October, then right until the clocks change again in spring.

If your evening programmes start an hour off, check the time zone of the device before blaming the source. The EPG troubleshooting checklist covers this and the other usual causes of an empty or shifted guide.

Add the URL in OneTV Connect

1. Open Settings, then EPG.
2. Add an XMLTV source and paste https://www.open-epg.com/files/unitedkingdom.xml.gz.
3. Optionally add https://epgshare01.online/epgshare01/epg_ripper_UK1.xml.gz as a second source. Sources stack: the second one fills channels the first does not cover.
4. Open the guide and check that BBC One, ITV1 and Channel 4 show the right programme at the right minute.

OneTV Connect is the IPTV player for Apple TV.

Frequently asked questions

Which free UK XMLTV file covers the ITV1 regions?

In our 22 September 2026 test, only open-epg.com (unitedkingdom.xml.gz) listed ITV1 by region, with ids such as ITV1Anglia.uk, ITV1Border.uk and ITV1Central.uk. epgshare01 UK1 and epg.pw GB carried a single national ITV1.

Why does my guide show BBC One programmes for the wrong region?

BBC One exists in around 17 regional variants in these files (London, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Yorkshire and others). If your playlist says only "BBC One HD", the matcher has to pick one; choose the region you actually receive, usually London, as the explicit mapping.

Why are my BT Sport channels missing from the guide?

BT Sport was renamed TNT Sports in 2023. epgshare01 and epg.pw list TNT Sports, and epg.pw still keeps old "BT Sport 1-4 HD" entries next to the new ones. Map your channels to the TNT Sports entries.

Are the times in these UK files in GMT or BST?

All the UK files we tested write times in UTC (+0000). A player that reads the offset shows the right local time in both GMT and BST; one that ignores it is one hour out during British Summer Time, which ends on 25 October 2026.

On licensing: none of these free sources publishes a licence for its data, which comes from third-party guides, so keep their use personal. Looking across the Atlantic? Read our US & Canada guide.