Plex Live TV Records a Different Program to what is selected

[Gumice2]

Server Version#: 1.42.1.10060
Player Version#: 1.109.0.329-ea562b95

Have an odd issue but not sure when this “started”

I’m trying to record a program “ABC News” but after I click on record the ‘Record Options’ popup dialog matches an adjacent programme on another channel “ABC National News”

Saving the recording does in fact record the (wrong) program

I’m guessing the SQL is incorrect in terms of picking up the intended enduser choice? Maybe it’s matching “ABC N*” or the index is filling out to the incorrect match?

ICETV in Australia provides me the XML data and they have confirmed the mediaids are fine at their end. They can also replicate the issue on their Plex environment

Not sure when this started but seen on the prior PMS 1.42.1.10054 as well as the current 1.42.1.10060

[Chamaelion]

Hello - I can confirm this has been happening since 10AUG25, as our Plex Server had a scheduled recording of the same program on the same channel which was functioning for almost 12 months up to and including a recording made on 09AUG25 @ 1900 AEST (GMT+10).

Our current set up is as follows:

• Platform - Plex Server (v.1.42.1.10060-4e8b05daf) on Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS
• Tuner - HD Homerun Connect (HDHR4-2DT) running firmware 20250623
• Guide provided by XMLTV integration
• Region - Australia - Melbourne

Our experience and steps to reproduce is included below:

We noticed the recording had failed on the 10th, and when the DVR Schedule was opened the recording wasn’t present, so we just rescheduled the recording. When we noticed that what was recorded was not what we had scheduled, I dug a bit deeper…

The programme I was attempting to re-add was of “ABC News” from ABC TV HD, Ch 20, at 1900 AEST, and this programme can be found in the guide:

After selecting “Record”, the program that is being presented in Record options is different - that of "ABC National News” from ABC News, Ch 24, at 1900 AEST:

This also happens if I try to record the SD version of the news on ABC TV, Ch 2. I picked up on this when watching the first replacement recording we made and saw that it was of the National news, not the local Victoria news - this does happen from time to time when the local news doesn’t air, but not across consecutive nights…

I deleted the scheduled recording & then in an attempt to prevent it defaulting to the incorrect programme on the other channel, I removed ABC News Ch 24 from my line-up of available channels:

Now, when trying to schedule a recording of “ABC News” on Ch 20, I am successfully able to set the recording up:

However, when I look in the DVR Schedule, it shows a News programme from a different timeslot has scheduled to record instead - that of “ABC Late News” from ABC TV HD, Ch 20, at 2209 AEST:

I then further modified my scheduled recording by forcing it to record on the 1900 AEST timeslot, hoping it would pick up my desired programme:

But after saving my modified scheduled recording, the DVR Schedule now shows that there are no upcoming airings of the programme at all:

This is despite the guide clearly shows the ABC News programme is definitely playing every evening at 1900 AEST on ABC TV HD Ch 20 (ref the guide in the first image).

Since discovering this, I have taken the following actions to try and rectify it, all of which have had no effect:

• Ensured my tuner has up-to-date firmware, and rescanned all channels
• Deleted and remapped all channels to my Plex LiveTV and DVR integration
• Rescanned and updated my XMLTV guide (numerous times, as well as from numerous independent sources)

I have also attached 2 different xmltv sources for testing and verification:

xml_sources.zip (1.7 MB)

It’s worth noting that this behaviour does not appear to happen with any other program I have tested, on the same or other channels.

Any assistance in resolving this would be appreciated!

[Gumice2]

I concur with your more detailed observations Chamaelion…

My existing recording also “disappeared” and my attempts to setup the recording again showed the same symptoms as yours. Also observed the recording schedule picking up other more distant recordings such as your example

@Chamaelion

it shows a News programme from a different timeslot has scheduled to record instead - that of “ABC Late News” from ABC TV HD, Ch 20, at 2209 AEST

I installed PMS 1.42.1.10054 on 9th August and suspect it started with that release

Hoping that someone from Plex can confirm if this is a known issue that will be resolved?

[baaa42]

I have the same problem with PMS versions 1.42.1.x and above, series recording Channel 9 and Channel 7 news in Melbourne.

It seems to coincide with releases to fix a major security flaw in PMS versions 1.41.7.x up to and including 1.42.0.x

Reinstalling the older PMS 1.41.9.9961 fixes the problem but exposes me to a major security flaw.

[Chamaelion]

Thanks @baaa42 - good to hear there’s a workaround.

Anyone reported this as a bug yet?

[yetinet]

Just wanted to link New version of PMS for Linux will not record certain programs into this thread as it is the same problem.

[Chamaelion]

I can also confirm that the latest beta release (05SEP25, v1.42.2.10122-3749b980e) still contains the error.

Thanks @yetinet for linking your issue & helping to keep all the data on this one together

[Gumice2]

Yes, it’s good to cross link the forum threads. Shame the recent beta doesn’t fix it.

The Plex search continues to frustrate… Live TV searches come up blank for shows that are in the guide. Possibly related to this recording issue but not sure. Hopefully more users will hit the recording issue and post here to further flesh out the issue

Between issues like this and the loss of the DVR Schedule on mobile apps it’s making me wonder when I start investigating alternative products… as much as I like Plex… there’s a limit to my patience

Spending another few hours screwing around with the data breach pw reset and server reclaim shanigans doesn’t help either

[Chamaelion]

So, there are two new PMS versions, both released on 19SEP (Argh!):

• Stable - v.1.42.2.10156
• Beta - v.1.43.0.10162

Has anyone tried these out to check if the issue we’re having still exists?

[Gumice2]

v.1.42.2.10156 doesn’t fix it

I avoid beta’s and will retest when it’s a public release

I don’t think this issue will be addressed unless more people hit it and report it here

[yetinet]

I upgraded to beta 1.43.0.10162 and it still fails. Previously scheduled recordings say that no upcoming episodes are found, and new scheduled recordings record the wrong program. (National News instead of Victorian Local News).

I downgraded to 1.41.6.9685 and it works as expected

I plan to stay on 1.41.6 until there is some good news here. Yetinet.

[Chamaelion]

Thanks @yetinet I’ll be doing the same, and I’ll see if there’s anything more we can do to get this issue on the dev’s radar

[Chamaelion]

So - as this indirectly relates to a security issue (as the workaround removes the vulnerability patch applied in v1.42.1.10060, and we’re running in a vulnerable state as a result), I tried putting this issue in front of the security team, this was their reply:

So, looks like we’re on our own here to find a method to get eyes on this through the forums. Anyone know the handle of a dev we can @mention to get their attention?

[darganbright56]

The last response to this post, Live TV EPG Update, is from a Plex employee who gives guidelines on posting with Live TV issues.

And, running ver 1.41.6.9685 does not have the security issue problem. Versions 1.41.7.xxxx - 1.42.0.xxxx had the issues (along with many other issues). Server Security Update . It is also new enough to work with the updated Plex apps.

[darganbright56]

As a temporary workaround, you could schedule to record the program just prior to the ABC News and add on the time necessary to capture the News in the Advanced Settings in the MINUTES AFTER END field.

You could also consider deleting the DVR and then adding the tuners back in with new scans. This might reset something in the DVR. No guarantees.

[Chamaelion]

Thanks for the suggestions @darganbright56 - your first one will require too much post processing, and deleting and readding the DVR has already been tried (as noted earlier in the post), along with trying different XMLTV feeds in case that was contributing to the issue.

And thanks for linking the EPG post, but I think this issue isn’t valid for that channel - the issue’ isn’t with the EPG itself (as the Plex EPG isn’t being used), rather it’s an issue with the scheduler not reading the XMLTV feed correctly.

I think we just need to rollback & keep finding someone to look at this issue - especially since it was existing functionality that was lost during an update. It’s almost certainly an edge-case that any UAT / pre-release testing they do didn’t catch it so they’re probably unaware of it…

[warb]

Hi all, adding my case to this issue.

Location: Sydney, Australia
Guide: IceTV XMLTV feed
Tuners: HDHomeRun CONNECT Quatro + FLEX Quatro (8 tuners total)
Plex Server is fully up to date.

The problem is specific to the daily news bulletins (e.g. Nine News 6pm, Seven News 6pm, ABC News, 10 News First). These appear correctly in the EPG and can be recorded individually, but cannot be scheduled as a recurring “Record Series.” Plex either refuses to create the schedule or treats future broadcasts as if they’ve already been recorded. This worked perfectly for years and stopped sometime in August.

What I’ve already tried (aligned with previous suggestions in this thread):

• Removed and re-added DVR completely

• Re-scanned channels and guide multiple times

• Repaired channel mappings

• Tested with and without secondary tuner present

• Tried “Prefer HD,” “Any,” and alternate versions of the same channel

• Confirmed tuners are not at capacity (ample headroom)

• Tested manual “Record this airing only” (works every time)

• Tested “Record Series” (fails to schedule future airings)

I also pulled the full XMLTV guide feed from IceTV and reviewed it. Initially, I suspected missing <episode-num> or series linking data. However, after discussing with IceTV support (including their CTO), they confirmed:

This issue began appearing for multiple Plex users around 10 August, and the timing matches a Plex DVR / metadata handling change.
It affects programs with identical title strings across days (i.e., daily news bulletins).
Guide data on their side has not changed and is valid.

IceTV pointed me to this exact thread and confirmed they cannot fix it from their side — the series matching logic is occurring on the Plex server.

I’m not looking for the manual scheduling workaround. I’m hoping to understand whether:

1. This regression has been acknowledged internally by Plex, and

2. Whether a fix is planned to restore the previous behavior (where daily news programs could be scheduled as recurring series recordings without issue).

Happy to provide logs or testing if needed.

Thanks.

[darganbright56]

Have you tried setting the recordings as:
Record - All Episodes
Airings - New and Repeat Airings

I use those settings on my local news programs because they don’t have an episode number. Just a date.

[warb]

yeah mate, 100%, that simply makes them disappear from the DVR schedule tried specific times, HD only, etc, etc, everything. It all points to a bug in plex, or at least a problem in the way it ‘ignores’ repeating shows like news.