What is the Best Way to Record an IPTV TV Channel?

[Subtitles]

I tried several methods to record a specific IPTV channel but found the best way is using VLC.
The only problem is that the recording stops suddenly sometimes, and I lose the recordings unless I keep watching all the time.
Perhaps there is a setup in VLC so that it can sound a beep when this happens?
Is there a more reliable method that would keep recording all the time even after an interruption, until the end of the program?
Thanks for your valuable comments.

[october262]

I tried several methods to record a specific IPTV channel but found the best way is using VLC.
The only problem is that the recording stops suddenly sometimes, and I lose the recordings unless I keep watching all the time.
Perhaps there is a setup in VLC so that it can sound a beep when this happens?
Is there a more reliable method that would keep recording all the time even after an interruption, until the end of the program?
Thanks for your valuable comments.

try with streamlink ??

[Subtitles]

@october262 thanks for the suggestion. I might give Streamlink a try.
So far VLC is doing a great job, I just wish I can get a beep when the recoding stops all of a sudden.

[Subtitles]

I tried a very simple solution to record IPTV stream or any other stream, using ffmpeg and the -t command. No need to use VLC after all.

This is how it looks to record 10 minutes duration

ffmpeg -i [Streaming URL] -c copy -t 00:10:00 test.mp4

[Subtitles]

Does anyone know how to schedule a recording using ffmpeg?
I want to use the script above:
ffmpeg -i [Streaming URL] -c copy -t 00:10:00 test.mp4
but let the recording starts at a future time, let's say several hours from now.

[jagabo]

Does anyone know how to schedule a recording using ffmpeg?

Windows Task Scheduler and ffmpeg? That can even boot the computer to run the batch file. I used to use this to record streaming radio broadcasts.

You could use -ss but that will waste bandwidth. Maybe -cue?

[1v0live]

I was having the exact same problem and already using that ffmpeg command.
Then after some brainstorming, AI gave me this cool powershell command that creates a task in Windows Task Scheduler:

# ========== CHANGE THESE =============
$ffmpeg = "C:\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe" # full path to ffmpeg.exe
$output = "C:\Recordings\output_recording.ts" # where the file will be saved
$startTime = "2026-07-30 14:30:00" # when the task should start
$streamUrl = "https://..." # the stream URL
$duration = "02:10:00" # how long to record
# ==================================

# Create the output folder if needed
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path (Split-Path $output) -Force | Out-Null

$action = New-ScheduledTaskAction `
-Execute $ffmpeg `
-Argument "-i `"$streamUrl`" -t $duration -c copy `"$output`" -y" `
-WorkingDirectory (Split-Path $output)

$trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Once -At $startTime

$settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet `
-AllowStartIfOnBatteries `
-DontStopIfGoingOnBatteries `
-StartWhenAvailable

$principal = New-ScheduledTaskPrincipal `
-UserId $env:USERNAME `
-LogonType Interactive

Register-ScheduledTask `
-TaskName "FFmpeg Recording" `
-Action $action `
-Trigger $trigger `
-Settings $settings `
-Principal $principal `
-Force

Just run powershell as admin and enter the above script changed accordingly. You can then close powershell and it will record at schedule.