udpate stuff

backend/m3u/parser.go

@@ -105,13 +105,17 @@ func generateID(name, url string) string {
 }
 
 // FilterChannels returns channels matching the given search term and/or group.
+// Always returns a non-nil slice so it encodes as [] rather than null in JSON.
 func FilterChannels(channels []models.Channel, search string, group string) []models.Channel {
 	if search == "" && group == "" {
+		if channels == nil {
+			return []models.Channel{}
+		}
 		return channels
 	}
 
 	searchLower := strings.ToLower(search)
-	var result []models.Channel
+	result := []models.Channel{}
 
 	for _, ch := range channels {
 		if group != "" && !strings.EqualFold(ch.Group, group) {
@@ -127,9 +131,10 @@ func FilterChannels(channels []models.Channel, search string, group string) []mo
 }
 
 // GetGroups returns a deduplicated, sorted list of group names from the channel list.
+// Always returns a non-nil slice so it encodes as [] rather than null in JSON.
 func GetGroups(channels []models.Channel) []string {
 	seen := make(map[string]bool)
-	var groups []string
+	groups := []string{}
 
 	for _, ch := range channels {
 		if ch.Group != "" && !seen[ch.Group] {