As YouTube continues to rise in popularity, London-based developer Steven Irby has created an electronic programme guide (EPG) to help audiences watch the video platform like traditional linear TV.
Irby spent almost 20 years in tech and software engineering before travelling the world. He now spends his time as an online creator who “makes fun, weird internet stuff”.
His latest creation is ChannelSurfer.tv, a website that repackages YouTube feeds and lets audiences browse them like an EPG.
“I built Channel Surfer because I’m tired of the algorithms and the indecision fatigue. I miss just turning something on and seeing what’s on without having to think so hard about it,” Irby tells TVBEurope. “My mom still watches cable TV, and I kind of wanted that same feeling, but with YouTube. Also, there’s something weirdly comforting about knowing you’re watching with other people.
“I wanted it to feel like old cable TV. The grid, the browsing, the sense that something is already ‘on’. Modern streaming is all optimised to death and constantly asking you to choose. I wanted the opposite of that. Also, honestly, the old EPG look is just funny and comforting.”
Currently, the website is a static Next.js site hosted on Cloudflare, that uses PartyKit. The channels and music are all based on a hand-picked list of YouTube channels and playlists, and GitHub Actions runs a script daily to refresh the data. “I just didn’t want to bother with building out a whole backend yet,” states Irby.
He used Claude to help with coding, but stresses Channel Surfer has not been vibe-coded. “I kind of wish we were there, but we’re not. AI helped me move faster, but the idea, curation, code, architectural decisions, product decisions, and overall execution were still very much mine.”
The EPG data is pulled from Irby’s curated list of 200 YouTube channels and 40 music playlists, and the script refreshes the data regularly. But, if users want to bring in their own subscriptions, Irby made what he described as “a dirty little hack” with a bookmarklet. “You drag it to your toolbar, click it on YouTube, and it grabs your subscriptions in the browser. Nothing goes to my server. It all works in the user’s browser.
“You browse the guide, switch channels, and tune into whatever is on. You can change the channel with your keyboard’s up and down arrows.”
The site is available on desktop, mobile and tablet, but Irvy has ambitions to develop it further for devices such as Fire TV, Apple TV and Chromecast. “I also want to keep refining the overall vibe and making it feel even more like a real weird cable TV experience for the internet,” he adds.
Irby has built the site without any involvement from YouTube. He states that he has been careful to “stay within the rules”. Channel Surfer does not block ads or do “anything weird under the hood”.
“It’s really just a fancy-dressed-up interface built around embedded YouTube videos. Everything is clearly linked back to the original channel and video.”
Channel Surfer went live earlier this month, and Irby says the reaction has bigger and more positive than he expected. “I think it hit a nerve because people are tired of algorithmic feeds and having to constantly decide what to watch. I’ve had a lot of people ask for a TV version, which probably says the most. It feels like one of those ideas that sounds kind of dumb at first, until you use it and immediately get it.”
