SageTV
Media center and digital video recorder application
title: "SageTV" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["digital-video-recorders", "discontinued-google-acquisitions", "google-acquisitions", "television-placeshifting-technology", "television-technology"] description: "Media center and digital video recorder application" topic_path: "arts/film" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SageTV" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Media center and digital video recorder application ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| title | SageTV |
| logo | SageTVLogoTag.jpg |
| released | 2002 |
| latest release version | v9.2.16 |
| latest release date | December 2, 2025 |
| repo | https://github.com/google/sagetv |
| programming language | Java, C++, C, Shell script |
| operating system | Windows, Linux |
| genre | Media center application and digital video recorder |
| license | Apache License 2.0 |
| website | www.sagetv.com (deprecated)Windows releasesLinux releases |
| :: |
| title = SageTV | logo = SageTVLogoTag.jpg | released = 2002 | latest release version = v9.2.16 | latest release date = December 2, 2025 | repo = https://github.com/google/sagetv | programming language = Java, C++, C, Shell script | operating system = Windows, Linux | genre = Media center application and digital video recorder | license = Apache License 2.0 | website = www.sagetv.com (deprecated)Windows releasesLinux releases SageTV forums SageTV is a free and formerly proprietary, open-source media center application and digital video recorder software for Windows, Linux, and formerly macOS. It requires that the host computer have a hardware-based TV tuner card. The SageTV software has an integrated Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) that is updated via the Internet. The program provides a television interface for DVR, music, and photos on Windows and Linux. SageTV Media Center typically records in standard MPEG2, making it possible to transfer recordings to laptops or other devices. It also has a built-in conversion feature to transcode files into other formats compatible with iPod, PSP, cell phones and other portable devices.
A "lite" version was commonly shipped as part of an OEM software bundle. Both the lite and regular versions offer a Java API.
SageTV Placeshifter allows the user to watch TV from any high speed internet connection, similar to the Slingbox. As of Version 6, the SageTV Placeshifter is available for Windows, Linux and Macintosh platforms. The SageTV Media Extender set-top allows other TVs to connect to SageTV over a home network. There is also the ability to use the Hauppauge MediaMVP with SageTV by purchasing a MediaMVP Client License.
On June 18, 2011, Jeffrey Kardatzke, CTO and founder of the company, announced in a SageTV forum post that his company had been acquired by Google. An official press release followed later the same day, and since then the SageTV products have no longer been available for purchase.
On March 9, 2015, Jeffrey Kardatzke announced that SageTV would be open-sourced "in the near future (i.e. months, not years)". Then a few months later, SageTV became open source, hosted on GitHub.
Google Fiber
After the acquisition of SageTV, LLC by Google, they began modifying and updating it to work with Google's upcoming Google Fiber TV service. SageTV v8 was the initial platform used for the Google Fiber Storage Box (DVR) and TV Box (Client). It has since been replaced with an in-house developed software.
SageTV Media Center for Linux
SageTV Media Center for Linux is compatible with most major Linux distributions. Information on a Gentoo distribution tuned for Media Center usage is available from the SageTV website. It runs on low cost PC and consumer electronics hardware including embedded processors (embedded only available for OEMs).
SageTV Studio
SageTV software also includes a SageTV Studio Development GUI that allows the customization of the user interface and development of add-ons. The company provides documentation so that these customizations can use a Java API. Built-in EPG support is available only for North America; however, the developer community has developed plug-ins that allow unsupported regions to access EPG info through sources such as XMLTV and ICETV in Australia. Additionally, there are IMDb and commercial skipping plugins.
Other PVR software
References
References
- (2025-10-19). "google/sagetv". Google.
- "SageTV Ultimate Guide".
- (2007-02-22). "SageTV Tips – Jim's Tips".
- Pash, Adam. "Hack Attack: Build your own DVR: DVR playground".
- [http://www.pcworld.ca/news/how_to/209f8ed6c0a8000600c26acd069b3a21/pg0.htm PC World - How to turn your PC into a PVR]{{dead link. (January 2018)
- (August 2022)
- (2011-06-18). "SageTV HTPC software acquired by Google, next stop Google TV?".
- http://sagetv.com/index.html SageTV.com - We’re thrilled to announce that SageTV has been acquired by Google
- "What's Next for SageTV Customers Post-Google?".
- Kardatzke, Jeffrey. (March 9, 2015). "SageTV Open Source - SageTV Community".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::