diff --git a/web/src/App.test.tsx b/web/src/App.test.tsx
index e9d6289d4..c6a89fa49 100644
--- a/web/src/App.test.tsx
+++ b/web/src/App.test.tsx
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ describe('ChicoryTV SPA scaffold', () => {
     fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('link', { name: 'Channels' }));
 
     expect(screen.getByRole('heading', { name: 'Channels' })).toBeInTheDocument();
-    expect(await screen.findByText('No channels returned')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(await screen.findByText('No channels yet')).toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(screen.getByRole('link', { name: 'Channels' })).toHaveAttribute(
       'aria-current',
       'page'
@@ -849,6 +849,41 @@ describe('ChicoryTV SPA scaffold', () => {
     expect(window.location.pathname).toBe('/app/channels');
   });
 
+  it('bare-creates the first channel from an empty lineup (#212 regression)', async () => {
+    // Fresh install: GET /api/channels returns []. The empty state must still offer bare-create — the
+    // old early return rendered a dead-end card before the action bar, so no channel could be created.
+    mockDashboardApi({
+      channels: [],
+      createChannelResponse: { id: 7 },
+      ffmpegSettings: defaultFfmpegSettings({ defaultFFmpegProfileId: 3 })
+    });
+
+    render(<App />);
+
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('link', { name: 'Channels' }));
+    expect(await screen.findByText('No channels yet')).toBeInTheDocument();
+
+    // Both create affordances are reachable on an empty lineup (the empty-state "Add Channel" is in
+    // addition to the always-present TopBar one, so there are two).
+    expect(screen.getAllByRole('button', { name: 'Add Channel' }).length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2);
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'New blank channel' }));
+
+    await waitFor(() =>
+      expect(window.fetch).toHaveBeenCalledWith('/api/channels', expect.objectContaining({ method: 'POST' }))
+    );
+
+    const body = requestBodyFor('/api/channels');
+    expect(body).toMatchObject({
+      ffmpegProfileId: 3,
+      group: 'ErsatzTV',
+      name: 'New Channel',
+      // max(number)+1 degenerates to 1 on an empty lineup.
+      number: '1'
+    });
+
+    await waitFor(() => expect(window.location.pathname).toBe('/app/edit-channel/7'));
+  });
+
   it('clears the selection when the channel view filter changes', async () => {
     mockDashboardApi({
       channels: [
@@ -924,6 +959,46 @@ describe('ChicoryTV SPA scaffold', () => {
     expect(window.fetch).toHaveBeenCalledWith('/api/languages', expect.any(Object));
   });
 
+  it('honors the unsaved-changes guard on browser Back/popstate (#230 finding 1)', async () => {
+    mockDashboardApi({
+      scheduleItems: [scheduleItem({ id: 11, name: 'Saturday Cartoons', collectionName: 'Saturday Cartoons' })],
+      schedules: [schedule({ id: 5, name: 'Prime Time Cartoons' })]
+    });
+
+    render(<App />);
+
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('link', { name: 'Schedules' }));
+    expect(await screen.findByRole('heading', { name: 'Prime Time Cartoons' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    await screen.findByRole('list', { name: 'Schedule lineup' });
+
+    // Dirty the item draft so the registered navigation guard is armed.
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Add item' }));
+    expect(await screen.findByText(/unsaved changes/)).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(window.location.pathname).toBe('/app/schedules');
+
+    // Simulate browser Back: popstate fires AFTER the URL has already moved. The guard cannot cancel
+    // it, so on a vetoed confirm the App handler must re-push the pre-pop path and keep the route.
+    const confirmSpy = vi.spyOn(window, 'confirm').mockReturnValue(false);
+    window.history.pushState(null, '', '/app/guide');
+    window.dispatchEvent(new PopStateEvent('popstate'));
+
+    expect(confirmSpy).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('heading', { name: 'Prime Time Cartoons' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(window.location.pathname).toBe('/app/schedules');
+
+    // Accept the discard on the next Back → route changes and the schedules screen (with its draft)
+    // unmounts, matching the sidebar-nav case.
+    confirmSpy.mockReturnValue(true);
+    window.history.pushState(null, '', '/app/guide');
+    window.dispatchEvent(new PopStateEvent('popstate'));
+
+    expect(await screen.findByRole('heading', { name: 'Guide' })).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(window.location.pathname).toBe('/app/guide');
+    expect(screen.queryByRole('heading', { name: 'Prime Time Cartoons' })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+
+    confirmSpy.mockRestore();
+  });
+
   it('opens the create-schedule dialog from the TopBar Add Schedule button', async () => {
     mockDashboardApi({ schedules: [schedule({ id: 5, name: 'Prime Time Cartoons' })] });
 
diff --git a/web/src/App.tsx b/web/src/App.tsx
index f8f5f7fb4..9fce3a50f 100644
--- a/web/src/App.tsx
+++ b/web/src/App.tsx
@@ -1255,10 +1255,41 @@ function ChannelsErrorState({ error, refresh }: { error: string; refresh: () =>
   );
 }
 
-function ChannelsEmptyState() {
+// Empty lineup (fresh install) must still let the user create their first channel — both the
+// library-to-lineup ChannelBuilder flow ("Add Channel") and the bare-create flow ("New blank
+// channel"). The bare-create handler is passed in from ChannelsScreen so the defaults (number =
+// max+1, which degenerates to 1 on an empty lineup; group "ErsatzTV"; default ffmpeg profile) are
+// identical to the action bar's. Regression for #212 (reopened): the old early return rendered a
+// dead-end card before the action bar, so a fresh install could never create a channel.
+function ChannelsEmptyState({
+  creatingBlank,
+  onCreateBlank
+}: {
+  creatingBlank: boolean;
+  onCreateBlank: () => void;
+}) {
   return (
-    <Card title={<h2>No channels</h2>} subtitle="The API returned an empty channel lineup.">
-      <div className="ctv-dashboard-empty">No channels returned</div>
+    <Card title={<h2>No channels</h2>} subtitle="No channels yet — create your first one.">
+      <div className="ctv-channels-empty">
+        <p className="ctv-dashboard-empty">No channels yet</p>
+        <div className="ctv-channels-empty-actions">
+          <Button
+            disabled={creatingBlank}
+            loading={creatingBlank}
+            onClick={onCreateBlank}
+            startIcon={<Plus aria-hidden="true" size={14} />}
+            variant="secondary"
+          >
+            New blank channel
+          </Button>
+          <Button
+            startIcon={<Plus aria-hidden="true" size={14} />}
+            onClick={() => navigateToPath('/app/new-channel')}
+          >
+            Add Channel
+          </Button>
+        </div>
+      </div>
     </Card>
   );
 }
@@ -1458,7 +1489,7 @@ function ChannelsScreen() {
   };
 
   if (channels.length === 0) {
-    return <ChannelsEmptyState />;
+    return <ChannelsEmptyState creatingBlank={creatingBlank} onCreateBlank={() => void createBlankChannel()} />;
   }
 
   return (
@@ -3442,12 +3473,30 @@ export function App() {
   const [activeRoute, setActiveRoute] = useState<ScreenRoute | null>(() => routeFromLocation());
   const healthState = useDashboardHealthQuery();
 
+  // The last path the guard has approved us being on. Browser Back/Forward (popstate) can't be
+  // cancelled, so when the dirty guard vetoes a pop we re-push THIS path to undo the browser's URL
+  // change. Kept in a ref (not state) so the popstate handler reads it synchronously at event time.
+  const currentPathRef = useRef<string>(window.location.pathname);
+
   useEffect(() => {
     applyDesignSystemTheme(theme);
   }, [theme]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    const onPopState = () => setActiveRoute(routeFromLocation());
+    // popstate covers both real Back/Forward and the synthetic pop navigateToPath() dispatches. If a
+    // screen has registered a dirty guard and it vetoes (user cancelled the confirm), we cannot stop
+    // the navigation — the URL has already moved — so we restore it by re-pushing the pre-pop path
+    // and leave activeRoute untouched. Re-pushing does NOT fire popstate, but that's fine: only one
+    // screen is mounted at a time and the guard-registering screen (schedules) owns no internal
+    // popstate listener, so no sub-path screen's pathname state can desync (see spa-conventions §8).
+    const onPopState = () => {
+      if (!canLeaveCurrentScreen()) {
+        window.history.pushState(null, '', currentPathRef.current);
+        return;
+      }
+      currentPathRef.current = window.location.pathname;
+      setActiveRoute(routeFromLocation());
+    };
 
     window.addEventListener('popstate', onPopState);
 
@@ -3474,6 +3523,7 @@ export function App() {
     }
 
     window.history.pushState(null, '', routeHref(nextRoute));
+    currentPathRef.current = window.location.pathname;
     setActiveRoute(nextRoute);
   };
 
diff --git a/web/src/shell.css b/web/src/shell.css
index 3dc15264c..2aa669fc0 100644
--- a/web/src/shell.css
+++ b/web/src/shell.css
@@ -1275,6 +1275,21 @@ body {
   font-size: var(--text-sm, 13px);
 }
 
+.ctv-channels-empty {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 16px;
+  padding: 16px 0;
+}
+
+.ctv-channels-empty-actions {
+  display: flex;
+  gap: 10px;
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+  justify-content: center;
+}
+
 .ctv-schedule-inspector {
   display: flex;
   flex-direction: column;