ErsatzTV

ErsatzTV is an open-source self-hosted platform that transforms a personal media library into live, custom-scheduled TV channels with a real electronic program guide. The same library that drives Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby for on-demand viewing now also powers always-on linear channels — themed marathons, music-video rotations, news-style loops, kids' blocks, late-night programming — that stream as M3U/HLS with full XMLTV EPG support. Any IPTV-aware client can tune in: Channels DVR, Plex DVR, Jellyfin Live TV, VLC, network-aware smart TVs, set-top boxes, and dozens of mobile apps. The result is a private classic-cable replacement built entirely from media the household already owns, without subscriptions, geofencing, or advertising.

Common Use Cases

Cord-cutters with extensive personal media libraries replace streaming subscriptions with a personal multi-channel cable lineup that runs themed programming around the clock — sci-fi marathons, music-video channels, sitcom-rerun blocks, sports highlights — all served from media they already own and curate. Households with kids build a child-safe channel that loops age-appropriate animation and educational programming, dropping the algorithmic-recommendation roulette of public streaming services. Plex and Jellyfin power users turn their VOD library into linear channels that fit how they actually watch — passive, channel-surfing-style consumption rather than always making explicit "what should I watch" decisions. Music collectors and DJs build music-video channels from a curated archive, complete with metadata-driven scheduling that mixes eras, artists, and tags into a coherent channel identity. Bar and restaurant operators self-host ErsatzTV as a custom in-venue channel for ambient music videos or themed programming without licensing third-party music TV services. Power users with multi-room AV setups serve different family members different ErsatzTV channels on different TVs simultaneously, reproducing the "everyone watching their own thing" experience of broadcast cable. Retro-TV enthusiasts recreate the classic-channel browsing experience deliberately, taking advantage of ErsatzTV's bumper, watermark, and interstitial features to make channels feel like the broadcast networks they grew up watching.

Key Features

• Custom 24/7 live channels assembled from collections, smart collections, and playlists across multiple media sources
• IPTV output via M3U playlists with full XMLTV electronic program guide for compatibility with every major IPTV client
• Native integration with Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby libraries plus local folder scanning for self-curated media
• Hardware-accelerated transcoding via NVENC (NVIDIA), Quick Sync (Intel), VAAPI, AMF, and VideoToolbox for low-CPU live streaming
• Per-channel watermarks, bumpers, intros, and interstitials for cable-style channel identity and programming flow
• Music-video channels with metadata-driven scheduling, cover-art display, and audio-with-still-image fallback
• Subtitle support including external SRT, embedded subtitles, and forced-track selection for international releases
• Scheduling engine supporting block programming, repeating templates, themed marathons, and time-of-day rotations
• HDHomeRun emulation so Plex DVR, Channels DVR, and other DVR systems treat ErsatzTV as a real tuner
• SQLite-backed channel and schedule storage that ships in a single persistent volume for trivial backup
• Active community with documentation at ersatztv.org and ongoing development on the modern "next" branch
• Open-source zlib licensing with no telemetry, no ads, and no SaaS dependencies

Why deploy ErsatzTV on Hostinger VPS

Running ErsatzTV on a Hostinger VPS gives cord-cutters and self-hosters a permanent, always-on linear-TV backend that scales beyond what a home machine can comfortably serve. Live transcoding for multiple simultaneous viewers — common at peak family-viewing hours — benefits from dedicated CPU on a VPS rather than competing with desktop work or sharing residential connections that throttle outbound video. Persistent volume storage keeps the channel database, schedule rules, watermark assets, and SQLite state durable across container restarts and host upgrades, so years of careful channel curation survive any single host. Combined with Traefik-based HTTPS routing, the M3U and XMLTV URLs that IPTV clients consume stay TLS-encrypted on every device, and the management UI is reachable from any browser on a clean branded hostname. Because ErsatzTV does not store source video itself — it streams from libraries you provide — the disk requirements are modest enough to coexist with other self-hosted services on a sensibly-sized VPS plan, and the read-only media mount means the source library is protected against any bug in the channel engine.