Plex Live TV: find out whether a channel comes from Plex or your antenna
Distinguish the free internet guide from a local Plex tuner and choose the right setup to watch or record a station.
IPTVBlogs editorial desk · 
Find the guide that supplies the programme
If you opened Plex’s free Live TV area and selected an internet channel, its feed comes from Plex’s online service. Plex says those free channels cannot be recorded with its DVR feature. To record an over-the-air broadcast you receive locally, use the separate Live TV & DVR setup with a compatible tuner and antenna connected to Plex Media Server. Check Plex’s current recording entitlement before planning the installation.
| What you want | The Plex source to open |
|---|---|
| Watch a free scheduled internet channel | Plex’s Free Live TV guide |
| Tune an over-the-air station that reaches your antenna | A guide associated with your configured local tuner |
| Schedule a recording of an over-the-air programme | The DVR guide after setup, with the applicable Plex Pass entitlement |
| Watch an already recorded programme | The library selected as the recording destination |
Troubleshoot a missing local station at the tuner
Go to the server’s Live TV & DVR settings and check whether the tuner was found and the station appeared in the scan. An incorrect guide mapping can give a real signal the wrong programme name. A missing or unreliable signal is an antenna, location or tuner question first. Open another station from the same tuner to see whether the issue affects the guide as a whole or the specific station.
Make one short recording before relying on the setup for a late game. Pick a broadcast starting soon, confirm its channel mapping and note the recording destination. When it finishes, play part of it from the library. If the file is missing, check the recording schedule and storage location from the server you configured. A free Plex internet channel playing beside it gives you little information about that path.
Identify both pieces in a forum post
Give the Plex app and server versions, the tuner model, the channel call sign and the result of a channel scan. If it is a free Plex channel, give its guide name and your country instead. Those details tell a responder which Plex feature you are actually using.