Jellyfin live TV with HDHomeRun
Updated ยท 5 min read
An HDHomeRun turns an antenna or cable signal into streams on your network, and Jellyfin can show those channels with a guide and record them. This page walks through Jellyfin live TV with HDHomeRun from adding the tuner to recordings that don't lose the ending.
Before you start
- The tuner and the computer running Jellyfin must be on the same home network. A VPN on that computer can hide the tuner.
- The tuner should already have found its channels. Open
http://hdhomerun.localin a browser on the same network; the tuner's page lists its channel lineup. If the list is empty, run a channel scan with SiliconDust's HDHomeRun app first. - Each tuner inside the box handles one channel at a time. A two-tuner model can show or record two channels at once, no more.
- Recordings need the Jellyfin computer awake when the show airs. See keep the computer awake for recordings.
Add the tuner and guide
- Open Live TV in the Dashboard. Sign in as an administrator, open Dashboard and choose Live TV.
- Add the tuner. Click + next to Tuner Devices. Choose Detect My Devices, or set Tuner type to HDHomeRun and type its address in Tuner IP Address. Save.
- Add guide data. Click + next to TV Guide Data Providers and choose Schedules Direct or XMLTV (see below). Set the Number of days of guide data to download.
- Map the channels. Next to the guide provider, open the ... menu and choose Map Channels. Use the pencil next to any channel the guide didn't match by number, and pick the right listing.
- Refresh the guide. Under Dashboard > Scheduled Tasks, run the guide refresh task in the Live TV group, then open Live TV from the main menu and check the Guide tab.
Tip: if Detect My Devices finds nothing, type the tuner's IP address instead. You can read it from your router's list of devices, or from the tuner's own page. More in Reelhost can't find the HDHomeRun, which applies to Jellyfin too.
Choosing guide data
Jellyfin offers two kinds of guide source. Which one suits you depends on where you live and how much fiddling you accept.
| Schedules Direct | XMLTV | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A nonprofit listings service with a direct link in Jellyfin | A standard guide file, from a URL or a file on disk |
| Cost | US$35 a year as of October 2026, with a 7-day free trial | Depends on the source; many are free |
| Where | United States and Canada | Anywhere a source exists |
| Setup | Sign in, pick your lineup, map channels | Find or generate the file, keep it updated, map channels |
Schedules Direct is the least work in North America and usually matches channels on its own. XMLTV is the route for everywhere else, and for people who already generate a guide file with another tool. With XMLTV, the file has to stay fresh: if whatever creates it stops running, the guide goes blank a few days later.
Recordings: folder, padding, series
Recording settings sit on Jellyfin's DVR settings page, next to Live TV in the Dashboard.
- Where recordings go. Set Default recording path, and optionally separate Movie recording path and Series recording path. Out of the box Jellyfin records into a folder inside its own data, usually on the system drive. An hour of HD TV takes about 6 GB, so point it at a big drive. In Docker, the path must be one you mounted into the container. See choose where recordings go.
- Padding. Set how many minutes before and after each recording Jellyfin should add. With none, a show that starts late loses its ending. One minute before and three after is a sensible start; sports may need far more after.
- Series. In the Guide, open a program, choose to record it, then pick Record series. The series options include Keep up to, so old episodes make room for new ones.
Jellyfin can also show recorded and live TV to people away from home, converted to fit their connection. The hardware acceleration guide keeps that conversion light, and Jellyfin remote access covers reaching it safely.
Commercials
Jellyfin doesn't detect or remove commercials by itself. What it offers is a hook: under Recording Post Processing you can set a Post-processing application and Post-processor command line arguments, which Jellyfin runs on each finished recording.
Many people point that hook at Comskip, a free commercial detector. It can write an .edl file next to the recording that lists where the breaks are. Jellyfin's own apps don't act on .edl files; community add-ons exist that read them and offer a skip button. Others cut the breaks out of the file with further tools. Both approaches have trade-offs:
- Detection is never perfect. A marker file is harmless when it's wrong; a cut file is not, so keep the original until you trust the results.
- Detection takes processor time after every recording, which matters on a small NAS.
- In Docker, the program the hook runs has to exist inside the Jellyfin container, which the official image doesn't include.
Questions
Do I need a paid guide for Jellyfin live TV?
No. Live TV works without any guide, but you get no listings, and recordings are scheduled from the guide. Schedules Direct is paid; XMLTV sources are often free.
How many channels can I watch or record at once?
As many as your HDHomeRun has tuners. Each live viewer and each recording uses one.
Can I watch HDHomeRun channels away from home through Jellyfin?
Yes. Jellyfin streams live TV like any other video, so once Jellyfin is reachable safely from outside, live channels come along.
The one-click way: Reelhost
Reelhost's Antenna TV check adds your HDHomeRun to Jellyfin with SiliconDust's free two-day guide, matched to every channel, and keeps the guide fresh even with Reelhost closed. That fix is in every paid plan, Core included. With Complete or Yearly, the Antenna & recordings screen also chooses the recordings folder, sets margins, records a whole series, skips commercials with Reelhost's own break detector, and can delete watched recordings when you choose (off by default). See add your HDHomeRun and its guide.
The check-up is free and changes nothing. Every fix is previewed, backed up and reversible.