Usage ‐ PLM ‐ PBS Stations - babsonnexus/stream-link-manager-for-channels GitHub Wiki

PBS streams local versions of its stations from its website, but it is not possible to directly integrate these outputs into PLM or other downstream consumers like Channels DVR. However, if you install the VLC Bridge PBS tool, you can quickly gain access to the local PBS stations and various substations (i.e., PBS Kids, Create, World, NHK World, First Nations Experience, etc..) that are available in your market.

Nevertheless, this is not foolproof as the function is dependent upon internet geolocation, which oftentimes is not accurate, especially if you have a cellular or satellite provider. To resolve this situation and make sure you can receive your legally entitled stations is the PBS Stations internal playlist.

In order to use this, it is as simple as checking off the box for PBS Stations under Internal Playlists on the Manage Playlists page and putting in the base link to your local copy of VLC Bridge PBS (i.e., http://localhost:7777).

Once you have done so, a new playlist will appear under Uploaded and Generated Playlists, Guides, and Related Files.

This playlist is created dynamically every time it is called, so it always up-to-date. The data it's based upon is scraped from the PBS website and API, and then stored in Streaming Library Manager. Thus, you can see this base data at any time in the Files area:

In order for this to be populated, at least one scrapping needs to happen. If the table is empty when you try to retrieve the PBS Internal Playlist, it will populate automatically, taking about 90 seconds. Since PBS stations do not change on a regular basis, it is safe to leave this as-is for a while. Otherwise, you are free to either manually or automatically have the PBS data re-scraped using the Automation screen:

With all of this set, the PBS Stations playlist can be added directly to Channels DVR with the click of the button shown above.

The data already contains everything necessary for a fully functional playlist, including unique channel IDs, individualized and differentiating icons, and Gracenote IDs for guide data. Of course, though, you can (and it is recommended to do so) select Add to Playlists instead and parse these through PLM like any regular station. This will give you the ability to quickly assign the ones you want and are entitled to and set the rest to ignore, well before these stations hit any other programs.

In either case, it is recommended to be careful while channel surfing. If PBS sees too much activity too quickly, it may time you out for several seconds. This might give the impression that a station does not work, but if you try again it will start playing normally.