JSON STREAMS format

The JSON-STREAMS format is an alternative format for the M3U8 format (as used by Kodi's PVR IPTV Simple add-on) to list TV and Radio channels with all required metadata in JSON format.

JSON-STREAMS format

This is a draft for version 1 of the standard.

The JSON structure for the playlist is a list of dictionaries, with each dictionary consisting of the following information.

Attributes

Attribute	Required	Description
name	Yes	The display name of the channel.
stream	Yes	The plugin://-endpoint to call to play the live stream.
id	No	A unique id that maps to a key in the JSON-EPG.
logo	No	The logo for the channel.
preset	No	The channel's preferred number.
group	No	The group name. Defaults to the name of the Add-on.
radio	No	Defines if this is a Radio channel. Defaults to false
vod	No	The plugin://-endpoint with some supported placeholders to play a video on demand stream by air date.

More information

• stream
  This is the endpoint that will be called when the channel should play. If no live channel is available, an appropriate error should be shown instead.

  Example: plugin://plugin.video.example/play/id/vualto_een_geo

• logo
  This can be an URL to an online image, or a special://-URI for a logo embedded in the Add-on itself.

  Example: special://home/addons/plugin.video.example/resources/logos/radio1.png

• vod
  This is the endpoint that will be called when video on demand content is requested from the EPG. The endpoint should contain one of the placeholders below. It's the responsibility of the Add-on to lookup the right program. Note that the timestamps might be outdated when the EPG is renewed since it was last downloaded, so it's recommended to use more then just the {start} placeholder.

  • {start}: the time when the program will start in YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS format.
  • {stop}: the time when the program will end in YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS format.
  • {duration}: the duration of the program in seconds.

  Example: plugin://plugin.video.example/play/bbc1/airdate/{start}/{stop}

Example

{
  "version": 1,
  "streams": [
    {
      "id": "een.be",
      "name": "Eén",
      "stream": "plugin://plugin.video.example/play/id/vualto_een_geo",
      "logo": "https://example.com/logo/een.png",
      "group": "VRT TV",
      "vod": "plugin://plugin.video.example/play/eenbe/airdate/{date}"
    },
    {
      "id": "radio1.be",
      "name": "Radio 1",
      "stream": "http://icecast.vrtcdn.be/radio1-high.mp3",
      "logo": "special://home/addons/plugin.video.example/resources/logos/radio1.png",
      "group": "VRT Radio",
      "radio": true
    }
  ]
}