diff --git a/libs/playlist/m3u/feature-player/src/lib/video-player/video-player.component.ts b/libs/playlist/m3u/feature-player/src/lib/video-player/video-player.component.ts
index 4999d4820..be43235a5 100644
--- a/libs/playlist/m3u/feature-player/src/lib/video-player/video-player.component.ts
+++ b/libs/playlist/m3u/feature-player/src/lib/video-player/video-player.component.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,10 @@ import { Store } from '@ngrx/store';
 import { StorageMap } from '@ngx-pwa/local-storage';
 import { TranslatePipe } from '@ngx-translate/core';
 import { ResizableDirective } from '@iptvnator/ui/components';
-import { isM3uCatchupPlaybackSupported } from '@iptvnator/shared/m3u-utils';
+import {
+    getM3uArchiveDays,
+    isM3uCatchupPlaybackSupported,
+} from '@iptvnator/shared/m3u-utils';
 import { PlaylistContextFacade } from '@iptvnator/playlist/shared/util';
 import {
     COMPONENT_OVERLAY_REF,
@@ -171,12 +174,12 @@ export class VideoPlayerComponent implements OnInit, OnDestroy {
     readonly epgPrograms = toSignal(this.epgService.currentEpgPrograms$, {
         initialValue: [] as EpgProgram[],
     });
-    readonly epgArchiveDays = computed(() => {
-        const channel = this.activeChannel();
-        const value =
-            channel?.tvg?.rec ?? channel?.timeshift ?? channel?.catchup?.days;
-        return Math.max(0, Number(value ?? 0) || 0);
-    });
+    // Shared helper skips blank strings (`tvg-rec=""` is a common default that
+    // `??` would not fall through), so a channel with only `timeshift`/
+    // `catchup-days` still gets its real window instead of 0 (unbounded).
+    readonly epgArchiveDays = computed(() =>
+        getM3uArchiveDays(this.activeChannel())
+    );
     readonly timelineChannelName = computed(
         () => this.activeChannel()?.name ?? ''
     );
diff --git a/libs/shared/m3u-utils/src/lib/catchup.utils.spec.ts b/libs/shared/m3u-utils/src/lib/catchup.utils.spec.ts
index 19c9961df..676c415d0 100644
--- a/libs/shared/m3u-utils/src/lib/catchup.utils.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/shared/m3u-utils/src/lib/catchup.utils.spec.ts
@@ -66,6 +66,20 @@ describe('catchup.utils', () => {
         ).toBe(7);
     });
 
+    it('skips a blank tvg-rec and uses a real timeshift value', () => {
+        // `tvg-rec=""` is a common parser default; a nullish (`??`) chain would
+        // stop on it and yield 0 (unbounded window). The non-blank helper skips
+        // it and returns the real timeshift days.
+        expect(
+            getM3uArchiveDays({
+                ...baseChannel,
+                catchup: undefined,
+                timeshift: '7',
+                tvg: { ...baseChannel.tvg, rec: '' },
+            })
+        ).toBe(7);
+    });
+
     it('supports legacy same-stream shift playback when catchup type is shift', () => {
         expect(isM3uCatchupPlaybackSupported(baseChannel)).toBe(true);
         expect(resolveM3uCatchupUrl(baseChannel, archivedProgram, 1_775_820_000))