diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3cbbc5904..aafe31dd1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 - Add `Troubleshoot Playback` buttons on movie and episode detail pages
 - Add song background and missing album art customization
   - Default files start with an underscore; custom versions must remove the underscore
+- Expose arbitrary EPG data to graphics engine via channel guide templates
+  - XML nodes using the `etv:` namespace will be passed to the graphics engine EPG template data
+  - For example, adding `<etv:episode_number_key>{{ episode_number }}</etv:episode_number_key>` to `episode.sbntxt` will also add the `episode_number_key` field to all EPG items in the graphics engine
+  - All values parsed from XMLTV will be available as strings in the graphics engine (not numbers)
+  - All `etv:` nodes will be stripped from the XMLTV data when requested by a client
 
 ### Fixed
 - Fix HLS Direct playback with Jellyfin 10.11
diff --git a/ErsatzTV.Application/Channels/Queries/GetChannelGuideHandler.cs b/ErsatzTV.Application/Channels/Queries/GetChannelGuideHandler.cs
index 362e7f261..d088c32d2 100644
--- a/ErsatzTV.Application/Channels/Queries/GetChannelGuideHandler.cs
+++ b/ErsatzTV.Application/Channels/Queries/GetChannelGuideHandler.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using System.Collections.Immutable;
 using System.Text;
+using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 using ErsatzTV.Core;
 using ErsatzTV.Core.Interfaces.Metadata;
 using ErsatzTV.Core.Iptv;
@@ -9,7 +10,7 @@ using Microsoft.IO;
 
 namespace ErsatzTV.Application.Channels;
 
-public class GetChannelGuideHandler : IRequestHandler<GetChannelGuide, Either<BaseError, ChannelGuide>>
+public partial class GetChannelGuideHandler : IRequestHandler<GetChannelGuide, Either<BaseError, ChannelGuide>>
 {
     private readonly IDbContextFactory<TvContext> _dbContextFactory;
     private readonly ILocalFileSystem _localFileSystem;
@@ -78,9 +79,14 @@ public class GetChannelGuideHandler : IRequestHandler<GetChannelGuide, Either<Ba
                 .Replace("{RequestBase}", $"{request.Scheme}://{request.Host}{request.BaseUrl}")
                 .Replace("{AccessTokenUri}", accessTokenUri);
 
+            channelDataFragment = EtvTagRegex().Replace(channelDataFragment, string.Empty);
+
             channelDataFragments.Add(Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(fileName), channelDataFragment);
         }
 
         return new ChannelGuide(_recyclableMemoryStreamManager, channelsFragment, channelDataFragments);
     }
+
+    [GeneratedRegex(@"<etv:[^>]+?>.*?<\/etv:[^>]+?>|<etv:[^>]+?\/>", RegexOptions.Singleline)]
+    private static partial Regex EtvTagRegex();
 }
diff --git a/ErsatzTV.Core/FFmpeg/FFmpegLibraryProcessService.cs b/ErsatzTV.Core/FFmpeg/FFmpegLibraryProcessService.cs
index 86188fe90..b5313d72e 100644
--- a/ErsatzTV.Core/FFmpeg/FFmpegLibraryProcessService.cs
+++ b/ErsatzTV.Core/FFmpeg/FFmpegLibraryProcessService.cs
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ public class FFmpegLibraryProcessService : IFFmpegProcessService
 
             context = await _graphicsElementLoader.LoadAll(context, graphicsElements, cancellationToken);
 
-            if (context.Elements.Count > 0)
+            if (context?.Elements?.Count > 0)
             {
                 graphicsEngineInput = new GraphicsEngineInput();
                 graphicsEngineContext = context;
diff --git a/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Data/Repositories/TemplateDataRepository.cs b/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Data/Repositories/TemplateDataRepository.cs
index f6bbbc764..8092660a7 100644
--- a/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Data/Repositories/TemplateDataRepository.cs
+++ b/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Data/Repositories/TemplateDataRepository.cs
@@ -69,20 +69,29 @@ public class TemplateDataRepository(ILocalFileSystem localFileSystem, IDbContext
             {
                 await using FileStream stream = File.OpenRead(targetFile);
                 List<EpgProgramme> xmlProgrammes = EpgReader.FindProgrammesAt(stream, time, count);
-                var result = new List<EpgProgrammeTemplateData>();
+                var result = new List<Dictionary<string, object>>();
 
                 foreach (EpgProgramme epgProgramme in xmlProgrammes)
                 {
-                    var data = new EpgProgrammeTemplateData
+                    Dictionary<string, object> data = new()
                     {
-                        Title = epgProgramme.Title?.Value,
-                        SubTitle = epgProgramme.SubTitle?.Value,
-                        Description = epgProgramme.Description?.Value,
-                        Rating = epgProgramme.Rating?.Value,
-                        Categories = (epgProgramme.Categories ?? []).Map(c => c.Value).ToArray(),
-                        Date = epgProgramme.Date?.Value
+                        ["Title"] = epgProgramme.Title?.Value,
+                        ["SubTitle"] = epgProgramme.SubTitle?.Value,
+                        ["Description"] = epgProgramme.Description?.Value,
+                        ["Rating"] = epgProgramme.Rating?.Value,
+                        ["Categories"] = (epgProgramme.Categories ?? []).Map(c => c.Value).ToArray(),
+                        ["Date"] = epgProgramme.Date?.Value
                     };
 
+                    if (epgProgramme.OtherElements?.Length > 0)
+                    {
+                        foreach (var otherElement in epgProgramme.OtherElements.Where(e =>
+                                     e.NamespaceURI == EpgReader.XmlTvCustomNamespace))
+                        {
+                            data[otherElement.LocalName] = otherElement.InnerText;
+                        }
+                    }
+
                     if (DateTimeOffset.TryParseExact(
                             epgProgramme.Start,
                             EpgReader.XmlTvDateFormat,
@@ -90,7 +99,7 @@ public class TemplateDataRepository(ILocalFileSystem localFileSystem, IDbContext
                             DateTimeStyles.None,
                             out DateTimeOffset start))
                     {
-                        data.Start = start;
+                        data["Start"] = start;
                     }
 
                     if (DateTimeOffset.TryParseExact(
@@ -100,7 +109,7 @@ public class TemplateDataRepository(ILocalFileSystem localFileSystem, IDbContext
                             DateTimeStyles.None,
                             out DateTimeOffset stop))
                     {
-                        data.Stop = stop;
+                        data["Stop"] = stop;
                     }
 
                     result.Add(data);
diff --git a/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Epg/EpgReader.cs b/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Epg/EpgReader.cs
index 05d6759e6..2ce1369f8 100644
--- a/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Epg/EpgReader.cs
+++ b/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Epg/EpgReader.cs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ namespace ErsatzTV.Infrastructure.Epg;
 public static class EpgReader
 {
     public const string XmlTvDateFormat = "yyyyMMddHHmmss zzz";
+    public const string XmlTvCustomNamespace = "https://ersatztv.org/xmltv/extensions";
 
     public static List<EpgProgramme> FindProgrammesAt(Stream xmlStream, DateTimeOffset targetTime, int count)
     {
@@ -16,10 +17,15 @@ public static class EpgReader
         var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(EpgProgramme));
         var settings = new XmlReaderSettings
         {
-            ConformanceLevel = ConformanceLevel.Fragment
+            ConformanceLevel = ConformanceLevel.Fragment,
         };
 
-        using var reader = XmlReader.Create(xmlStream, settings);
+        var nt = new NameTable();
+        var nsmgr = new XmlNamespaceManager(nt);
+        nsmgr.AddNamespace("etv", XmlTvCustomNamespace);
+        var context = new XmlParserContext(nt, nsmgr, null, XmlSpace.None);
+
+        using var reader = XmlReader.Create(xmlStream, settings, context);
 
         var foundCurrent = false;
 
diff --git a/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Epg/Models/EpgProgramme.cs b/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Epg/Models/EpgProgramme.cs
index 8afd3b289..42a4dad87 100644
--- a/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Epg/Models/EpgProgramme.cs
+++ b/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Epg/Models/EpgProgramme.cs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+using System.Xml;
 using System.Xml.Serialization;
 
 namespace ErsatzTV.Infrastructure.Epg.Models;
@@ -36,8 +37,11 @@ public class EpgProgramme
     public EpgRating Rating { get; set; }
 
     [XmlElement("previously-shown")]
-    public object PreviouslyShown { get; set; } // Use object for presence check
+    public object PreviouslyShown { get; set; }
 
     [XmlElement("date")]
     public EpgDate Date { get; set; }
+
+    [XmlAnyElement]
+    public XmlElement[] OtherElements { get; set; }
 }
diff --git a/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Streaming/Graphics/GraphicsElementLoader.cs b/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Streaming/Graphics/GraphicsElementLoader.cs
index 5d0681396..a82585294 100644
--- a/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Streaming/Graphics/GraphicsElementLoader.cs
+++ b/ErsatzTV.Infrastructure/Streaming/Graphics/GraphicsElementLoader.cs
@@ -28,109 +28,119 @@ public partial class GraphicsElementLoader(
         List<PlayoutItemGraphicsElement> elements,
         CancellationToken cancellationToken)
     {
-        // get max epg entries
-        int epgEntries = await GetMaxEpgEntries(elements);
+        try
+        {
+            // get max epg entries
+            int epgEntries = await GetMaxEpgEntries(elements);
 
-        // init template element variables once
-        Dictionary<string, object> templateVariables =
-            await InitTemplateVariables(context, epgEntries, cancellationToken);
+            // init template element variables once
+            Dictionary<string, object> templateVariables =
+                await InitTemplateVariables(context, epgEntries, cancellationToken);
 
-        // subtitles are in separate files, so they need template variables for later processing
-        context = context with { TemplateVariables = templateVariables };
+            // subtitles are in separate files, so they need template variables for later processing
+            context = context with { TemplateVariables = templateVariables };
 
-        // fully process references (using template variables)
-        foreach (PlayoutItemGraphicsElement reference in elements)
-        {
-            switch (reference.GraphicsElement.Kind)
+            // fully process references (using template variables)
+            foreach (PlayoutItemGraphicsElement reference in elements)
             {
-                case GraphicsElementKind.Text:
+                switch (reference.GraphicsElement.Kind)
                 {
-                    Option<TextGraphicsElement> maybeElement = await LoadText(
-                        reference.GraphicsElement.Path,
-                        templateVariables);
-                    if (maybeElement.IsNone)
+                    case GraphicsElementKind.Text:
                     {
-                        logger.LogWarning(
-                            "Failed to load text graphics element from file {Path}; ignoring",
-                            reference.GraphicsElement.Path);
-                    }
+                        Option<TextGraphicsElement> maybeElement = await LoadText(
+                            reference.GraphicsElement.Path,
+                            templateVariables);
+                        if (maybeElement.IsNone)
+                        {
+                            logger.LogWarning(
+                                "Failed to load text graphics element from file {Path}; ignoring",
+                                reference.GraphicsElement.Path);
+                        }
 
-                    foreach (TextGraphicsElement element in maybeElement)
-                    {
-                        context.Elements.Add(new TextElementDataContext(element));
-                    }
+                        foreach (TextGraphicsElement element in maybeElement)
+                        {
+                            context.Elements.Add(new TextElementDataContext(element));
+                        }
 
-                    break;
-                }
-                case GraphicsElementKind.Image:
-                {
-                    Option<ImageGraphicsElement> maybeElement = await LoadImage(
-                        reference.GraphicsElement.Path,
-                        templateVariables);
-                    if (maybeElement.IsNone)
-                    {
-                        logger.LogWarning(
-                            "Failed to load image graphics element from file {Path}; ignoring",
-                            reference.GraphicsElement.Path);
+                        break;
                     }
+                    case GraphicsElementKind.Image:
+                    {
+                        Option<ImageGraphicsElement> maybeElement = await LoadImage(
+                            reference.GraphicsElement.Path,
+                            templateVariables);
+                        if (maybeElement.IsNone)
+                        {
+                            logger.LogWarning(
+                                "Failed to load image graphics element from file {Path}; ignoring",
+                                reference.GraphicsElement.Path);
+                        }
 
-                    context.Elements.AddRange(maybeElement.Select(element => new ImageElementContext(element)));
+                        context.Elements.AddRange(maybeElement.Select(element => new ImageElementContext(element)));
 
-                    break;
-                }
-                case GraphicsElementKind.Motion:
-                {
-                    Option<MotionGraphicsElement> maybeElement = await LoadMotion(
-                        reference.GraphicsElement.Path,
-                        templateVariables);
-                    if (maybeElement.IsNone)
-                    {
-                        logger.LogWarning(
-                            "Failed to load motion graphics element from file {Path}; ignoring",
-                            reference.GraphicsElement.Path);
+                        break;
                     }
-
-                    foreach (MotionGraphicsElement element in maybeElement)
+                    case GraphicsElementKind.Motion:
                     {
-                        context.Elements.Add(new MotionElementDataContext(element));
-                    }
+                        Option<MotionGraphicsElement> maybeElement = await LoadMotion(
+                            reference.GraphicsElement.Path,
+                            templateVariables);
+                        if (maybeElement.IsNone)
+                        {
+                            logger.LogWarning(
+                                "Failed to load motion graphics element from file {Path}; ignoring",
+                                reference.GraphicsElement.Path);
+                        }
 
-                    break;
-                }
-                case GraphicsElementKind.Subtitle:
-                {
-                    Option<SubtitleGraphicsElement> maybeElement = await LoadSubtitle(
-                        reference.GraphicsElement.Path,
-                        templateVariables);
-                    if (maybeElement.IsNone)
-                    {
-                        logger.LogWarning(
-                            "Failed to load subtitle graphics element from file {Path}; ignoring",
-                            reference.GraphicsElement.Path);
-                    }
+                        foreach (MotionGraphicsElement element in maybeElement)
+                        {
+                            context.Elements.Add(new MotionElementDataContext(element));
+                        }
 
-                    foreach (SubtitleGraphicsElement element in maybeElement)
+                        break;
+                    }
+                    case GraphicsElementKind.Subtitle:
                     {
-                        var variables = new Dictionary<string, string>();
-                        if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(reference.Variables))
+                        Option<SubtitleGraphicsElement> maybeElement = await LoadSubtitle(
+                            reference.GraphicsElement.Path,
+                            templateVariables);
+                        if (maybeElement.IsNone)
                         {
-                            variables = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, string>>(reference.Variables);
+                            logger.LogWarning(
+                                "Failed to load subtitle graphics element from file {Path}; ignoring",
+                                reference.GraphicsElement.Path);
                         }
 
-                        context.Elements.Add(new SubtitleElementDataContext(element, variables));
-                    }
+                        foreach (SubtitleGraphicsElement element in maybeElement)
+                        {
+                            var variables = new Dictionary<string, string>();
+                            if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(reference.Variables))
+                            {
+                                variables = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Dictionary<string, string>>(
+                                    reference.Variables);
+                            }
+
+                            context.Elements.Add(new SubtitleElementDataContext(element, variables));
+                        }
 
-                    break;
+                        break;
+                    }
+                    default:
+                        logger.LogInformation(
+                            "Ignoring unsupported graphics element kind {Kind}",
+                            nameof(reference.GraphicsElement.Kind));
+                        break;
                 }
-                default:
-                    logger.LogInformation(
-                        "Ignoring unsupported graphics element kind {Kind}",
-                        nameof(reference.GraphicsElement.Kind));
-                    break;
             }
+
+            return context;
+        }
+        catch (OperationCanceledException)
+        {
+            // do nothing
         }
 
-        return context;
+        return null;
     }
 
     public async Task<Option<string>> TryLoadName(string fileName, CancellationToken cancellationToken)