What happens on the first load
Updated 16 September 2026
Why the first import is the slow one, and what AnyTV is doing while you wait.
The first time AnyTV loads a source it does considerably more than download a list. Later loads are much faster because most of this work is already done.
It reads the whole playlist. Big IPTV providers ship tens of thousands of entries covering every region and language they serve, whether or not you watch any of them.
It groups what belongs together. Loose entries named like episodes become series with seasons. Different qualities of the same film become one film with versions.
It matches titles to metadata. Each film and show is looked up so it can carry a poster, a backdrop, a synopsis, cast, ratings and a full episode guide. Matching happens in the title's own language where AnyTV can tell what that is.
It fetches guide data. Live channels are lined up with their XMLTV programmes.
How long
Minutes rather than seconds on a large playlist, and longer on older hardware. It runs in the background, you can start watching live TV while films and shows are still filling in.
If it feels too slow
Hiding categories you never watch has more effect than anything else, because the work is proportional to how much content AnyTV has been asked to organise. See Speed up a large library.