September 22, 2025 - Version 5.3.10

Clarified information about the TV episode profile. Updated TV advisories for the us-tv system.

XML Declaration (required)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

The character encoding of your document must be defined.

Apple accepts only UTF-8 encoding as it efficiently encodes non-Roman characters.

Important: The metadata.xml file must not contain a byte-order mark (BOM).

<package xmlns="http://apple.com/itunes/importer" version="tv5.3">

Package Container (required)

The xmlns (XML namespace) attribute is required and is needed for schema validation. It is used to declare the namespace (and associated schema) to which the tags in the XML are expected to conform. The namespace must be: http://apple.com/itunes/importer

The version attribute is required. Packages created to this specification must indicate version="tv5.3". The “tv” portion of the attribute must be in lowercase letters.

<provider>abc</provider>

Provider (required, Apple supplied)

This value should be the transactional TV provider shortname given for partner identification. The value should match the provider name used in Transporter (the value that is after -s in the Transporter command). The value supplied with the <provider> tag is case-sensitive. For example, if the provider shortname is abc, the value in the <provider> tag must be abc; not ABC. Note that it is the value you pass as an argument to Transporter, not the value in the XML, that determines the account you are delivering to. Contact your Apple Technical Representative for this value.

Example:

• OneLittleIndian

• Minimum length: 1 character

<language>en-US</language>

Language (required)

The primary language of the metadata for this package. Fields such as title and description are expected to appear in this language. When specifying languages, you can use any language as long as it is a valid BCP 47 code that consists of the language code, optional region, and optional script subtags as appropriate (for example, script is not relevant for audio). Note that while any valid language code is accepted, the Apple TV app displays content only in a limited set of languages. The table in Language Codes shows the languages available for the Storefront.

As a best practice when specifying a language, use the region subtag (for example, the US of en-US) only when it conveys helpful information, such as spelling variations between countries. For example, there is generally not a need to distinguish between Japanese as used in one country or region versus another, so you should use only the language code subtag (ja) instead of the language code and region subtags (ja-JP). In cases where specifying a region is appropriate, use the hyphen character to combine a language subtag with a region subtag. This identifies both the language and the specific location where the language is used. For English with American spelling, use en-US; for English with British spelling, use en-GB.

The language codes are formatted according to the best practices recommended by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in a group of documents known collectively as BCP 47, and in particular, RFC 5646 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5646), which is part of BCP 47. An overview of these best practices is provided here: https://www.w3.org/International/articles/language-tags/.

For more information on the ISO 639-1 standard, refer to https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php.

<season>

Season (required)

Begins the season block. Only one <season> tag can be defined in an XML delivery.

<container_id>ABC_GREYSANATOMY_SEASON_004</container_id>

Container ID (required; 1-100 characters; see Restrictions)

The container ID is defined by the provider as the permanent identifier for a specific season of a series. The metadata being delivered in the XML pertains to the season in the <container_id> tag. If the season does not exist in the Apple TV app when you deliver the XML, a new season is created. If the season already exists, the metadata in the XML delivery is updated with the information.

If you do not have an internal naming convention, use this format: PROVIDER_SERIES_SEASON_001.

In this example, "ABC_GREYSANATOMY_SEASON_004" is the container ID, which references the fourth season of the series.

Two seasons can’t have the same container ID, and a container ID, once set, can’t be changed. The container ID is also used for sales reporting.

Restrictions: The container ID can only contain alphanumeric characters and underscore marks; it cannot contain spaces, dashes, ampersands, other punctuation, or symbols. The container ID is case-sensitive.

<show_apple_id>1234567</show_apple_id>

Show Apple Identifier (required when season first delivered)

The identifier of the series (also called a show) for the season you are delivering. The globally-unique identifier assigned by Apple to every series that is set up. You set up the series in iTunes Connect. To get the Apple ID of your series, you can do a metadata lookup on a previous season in that series.

<type>standard</type>

Season Subtype (optional, can be updated)

You can specify an appropriate subtype for a season of a series using one of these valid season subtypes:

• standard

• compilation

• boxset

• miniseries

• tvmovie

• special

See TV Data Standards and Style Guide for descriptions and examples of each of these TV season subtypes.

Note: This season subtype is different from the season type described in the <season_type> section below.

<season_display_number>4</season_display_number>

Season Display Number (optional; can be updated)

The number of the season as it should be displayed on the Apple TV app. The season display number is optional, but if you provide a season display number, it must be a positive whole number and expressed as a numeral. The number does not need to be unique within the season. This number will be visible to the customer.

In this example, this is the fourth season of the show, so the <season_display_number> is 4.

<copyright_cline>2007 ABC Studios. All Rights Reserved.</copyright_cline>

Copyright (required; 1-1000 characters, can be updated)

A specific copyright for this season. The format required is four-digit year followed by owner. The © symbol will automatically be added and should not be included in the data.

In this example, “2007 ABC Studios. All Rights Reserved.” is the copyright and is seen on the Apple TV app as “©2007 ABC Studios. All Rights Reserved.”

<eidr>10.5240/CFC2-B507-CE22-B3D4-F32F-2</eidr>

EIDR (optional)

The EIDR (Entertainment Identifier Registry) is a universal, unique identifier system for movie and television assets. Any level of EIDR is accepted in this field, so long it is in valid format. For more information, see https://www.eidr.org/about-us/.

The format of the EIDR identifier is 10.5240/XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-C, where:

• 10.5240 represents the standard prefix of an EIDR value

• X represents a hexadecimal digit

• C represents the check character

<countries_of_origin>

 <country primary="true">US</country>

 <country>CA</country>

</countries_of_origin>

Country or Region of Origin (required, ISO-3166-1 country code)

Note: In this annotation description, use of the term “country” may refer to a country or region.

The ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 code of the country (or countries) where the content originates from, for example: the country where the season was primarily produced, where the main authors and workers reside, where the main producer is established, and so on. Such determination must be made in accordance with applicable law. You must specify at least one country of origin and that country should be the primary country of origin.

You can supply additional countries as needed to associate all the countries involved in developing and creating the season. To deliver more than one country, use the <countries_of_origin> tag, and then specify each individual country using a <country> tag. One country is designated as the primary country using the primary="true" attribute. Specifying secondary countries is optional, but you should list all countries associated with the season.

The country of origin may differ from the production country, which is the country that provided most of the funds for production. Both the country of origin and production country are required.

For a list of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes, see https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search/code/.

For more information on ISO codes, see https://www.davros.org/misc/iso3166.html.

<production_countries>

 <country primary="true">US</country>

</production_countries>

Production Country or Region (required, ISO-3166-1 country code)

Note: In this annotation description, use of the term “country” may refer to a country or region.

The ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 code of the country responsible for the primary source of funds for the season production. You must specify at least one production country and that country should be the country that provided most of the funds (for example, from national lotteries and other subsidies). Such determination must be made in accordance with applicable law. You can supply additional production countries as needed. Supplying at least one production country is required and that country should be designated as the primary country using the primary="true" attribute.

The production company may differ from the country of origin, which is the country where the content originates from in accordance with applicable law. Both the country of origin and production country are required.

For a list of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes, see https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search/code/.

For more information on ISO codes, see https://www.davros.org/misc/iso3166.html.

<original_spoken_locale>en-US</original_spoken_locale>

Original Spoken Locale Language (required)

Specifies the original language spoken by the actors in the season. This is usually the primary language of the country or region of origin. For example, if the season was filmed in the United Kingdom in English, but the season is dubbed in French for the French market, then <original_spoken_locale> would be en-GB.

When specifying languages, you can use any language as long as it is a valid BCP 47 code that consists of the language code, optional region, and optional script subtags as appropriate (for example, script is not relevant for audio). Note that while any valid language code is accepted, the Apple TV app displays content only in a limited set of languages. The table in Language Codes shows the languages available for the Storefront.

Note: This is not the dubbed language, and is different from the <language> and <locale> tags. <original_spoken_locale> is the language in which the actors’ lips move. <language> is the language used for the metadata. <locale> is used to specify the language heard on the audio file, which could be a dubbed language, that is different from the <original_spoken_locale>.

<title>Grey's Anatomy, Season 4</title>

Title (required on initial delivery; 1-255 characters; may be updated)

The name of the season in this package. The information sent with this tag can be updated unless Apple has reviewed and confirmed the quality of the metadata.

There is a 255-byte limit strictly enforced. The data is stored in the UTF-8 encoding, so for single-byte characters (such as those drawn from the ASCII character set), this equates to a 255-character limit; for multiple-byte (for example, Japanese) characters, this can equate to as few as 71 characters.

Important: Do not capitalize every letter of every word. Capitalize the first letter of each word as appropriate for the language.

<ratings>

Ratings (optional, can be updated)

You can specify a rating label for your TV content. For complete details, see Table 1: TV Metadata Rating Systems Values.

<rating system="us-tv" code="TV-14"/>

Rating (required if content is rated, can be updated)

A valid rating from an accepted ratings system. More than one rating may be specified, but only one rating per ratings system is allowed. The information sent with this tag can be updated.

All TV ratings have a short, plain-ASCII Apple rating code, which is supplied using the attribute named code. Standardizing on the Apple rating codes reduces errors resulting from typos.

The code attribute is currently optional, however Apple recommends that you start supplying the codes to prepare for the time in the future when the codes become required and the current method deprecated. All of the following are currently supported for delivering rating information:

Preferred Method Using the Rating Code:

<rating system="us-tv" code="TV-14"/>

Previous Method Using the Rating Label:

<rating system="us-tv">TV-14</rating>

Acceptable Method Using Both the Rating Code and the Rating Label:

<rating system="us-tv" code="TV-14">TV-14</rating>

If you use this method, the rating identified by code and the rating identified by rating label must resolve to the same rating, for example, <rating system="us-tv" code="TV-G">TV-14</rating> would be rejected.

If you submit ratings that are not supported, the package will be rejected. A complete listing of valid systems and values is located in Table 1: TV Metadata Rating Systems Values.

</ratings>

<regions>

Regions (optional)

Begins the <regions> block used to specify regional variations in season information.

A region must be specified for each territory (country or region) that requires localized release information. In this example, the season is being released in two territories.

<region>

Region (required within the <regions> block)

A region must be specified for each territory (country or region) that requires localized metadata, such as season type, description, date information, and more.

<territory>AU</territory>

Territory (required within the <region> block)

The territory where the season will be available for sale. Must be specified as an ISO 3166 alpha-2 country code. Note that some countries in the ISO 3166 alpha-2 country list contain other countries (for example, United States includes Puerto Rico)

For a list for ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 codes, see https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search.

For more information on ISO codes, see https://www.davros.org/misc/iso3166.html.

<network>ABC</network>

Network (required within the <region> block; can be updated)

The name of the network airing the season in the specified territory.

<season_type>currently_airing</season_type>

Season Type (required)

The type of season. Allowed values are:

• library: Seasons that have already aired and are offered on the Apple TV app with a fixed number of episodes for that season.

• currently_airing: Seasons that are currently active and have episodes that have yet to air.

<description>The fourth season continues the story of a group of surgeons and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, describing their professional and personal lives.</description>

Description (required on initial delivery of region; 1-4,000 characters, may be updated)

A brief description of the season. This description provides a summary of the entire season and appears on the Store for customers to read. You can use up to 4000 characters.

The information sent with this tag can be updated unless Apple has reviewed and confirmed the quality of the metadata.

The description can be localized (optional) by creating another region and localizing the description there.

Important: Character counts are for standard 8-bit characters (that is, Roman alphabet). Fewer double-wide characters (for example, Japanese symbols) are allowed.

<total_expected_episodes>17</total_expected_episodes>

Total Expected Episodes (required on initial delivery of region; must be a positive number)

The number of salable episodes expected to be in the season. Do not include bonus material in the total episode count (see the <total_expected_bonus_episodes> tag to supply the bonus episode count). The number you enter must be a whole number (decimal values are not accepted) that is 1 or greater. This number tells the Apple TV app how many episodes to expect.

Note that the total number of episodes cannot be changed, but it does not limit the total number of episodes that can actually be delivered. For example, if the current season of your series has 12 episodes ordered, but then an additional 12 episodes are ordered later in that same season, you can continue to deliver episodes until the season is marked complete in that territory (which you indicate in iTunes Connect).

Note: If the total expected episode count changes after you deliver the tag, use the “Contact Us” link in iTunes Connect to file a ticket.

<total_expected_bonus_episodes>2</total_expected_bonus_episodes>

Total Expected Bonus Episodes (optional; must be a positive number)

The number of bonus episodes expected to be in the season. The number you enter must be a whole number (decimal values are not accepted). This number tells the Apple TV app how many bonus episodes to expect.

Note: If the total expected bonus episode count changes after you deliver the tag, use the “Contact Us” link in iTunes Connect to file a ticket.

<total_launch_episodes>19</total_launch_episodes>

Total Launch Episodes (required; must be a positive number)

The number of episodes (including bonus episodes) available at the time of launch.

This is the number of episodes you plan to deliver on or before the launch date. For example, suppose three episodes of a season have already aired before putting the season on the Apple TV app. The number of episodes at launch would be 3.

<broadcast_schedule>

Broadcast Schedule (required)

Begins the <broadcast_schedule> block where you define broadcasting information about the season in the specified region.

<premiere_date>09-26-2016</premiere_date>

Premiere Date (required)

The premiere date is the date the season first aired in the specified territory.

The date must be in the format YYYY-MM-DD where YYYY is the 4-digit year, MM is the 2-digit month, and DD is the two-digit day.

<finale_date>03-24-2017</finale_date>

Finale Date (optional)

The finale date is the date of the final episode of the season in the specified territory.

The date must be in the format YYYY-MM-DD where YYYY is the 4-digit year, MM is the 2-digit month, and DD is the two-digit day.

Note: Finale date applies only to currently-airing seasons.

<weekdays>

 <weekday>Monday</weekday>

</weekdays>

Weekdays (optional)

Supply the day of the week the season airs. If the season airs more than once a week, include a <weekday> tag for all the days of the week that apply.

The day of the week combined with the time specified in the <time> tag are used to display the tune-in information for currently airing seasons on the Apple TV app.

Note: Air weekdays apply only to currently-airing seasons.

<times>

 <time zone="central">20:00</time>

 <time zone="eastern">21:00</time>

</times>

Times (optional)

Supply the time the season airs in all relevant time zones. Use a separate <time> tag for each time zone that applies. The time must be entered using the 24-hour clock—the hour value must be between 00 and 23 and the minute value must be between 0 and 60.

The time combined with the day(s) of the week specified in the <weekdays> block are used to display the tune-in information for currently-airing seasons on the Apple TV app.

Note: Air times apply only to currently-airing seasons.

</region>

</region>

<assets>

 <asset type="artwork">

Season Artwork (required on initial delivery; can be updated)

The art that represents the season. The image should be a minimum 3000 x 3000 pixels in the RGB color space, and in JPG or PNG file format. Layered images should have a minimum resolution of 3000 x 3000 pixels, 1.0 aspect ratio, and must be in the LSR (layered stack resource) file format.

<data_file>

Data File (required, can be updated)

A data file element block must be included to deliver the season’s cover art.

In this block, the <file_name>, <size>, and <checksum> tags are required.

<locale name="en-US"/>

Locale Name (required)

The <locale> indicates the language in which the text on the art appears. If the art displays more than one language, for example, cover art for Canada that shows both English and French, supply a <locale> tag for each language.

The art delivered in the <asset> block will be used for the locales listed in the <locales> block. If you are delivering the artwork for only one locale, you can omit the surrounding <locales></locales> tags as shown below:

<data_file>

 <locale name="en-US"/>

 <file_name>09736156444.lsr</file_name>

 . . .

<file_name>09736156444.lsr</file_name>

File Name (required)

The name of the artwork file. The name should be relative to the package (containing no path reference “C:\” or “/Macintosh HD/”) and must contain the file name extension (.lsr in this example).

Important: File names are case sensitive. A file name can contain only alphanumeric characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9) and these symbols: underscore ("_"), dash (“-”), and period (“.”). The file name must not start with an underscore, dash, or period and cannot contain spaces, other punctuation or symbols.

<size>6591649</size>

File Size (required)

The size in bytes of the artwork file. Do not specify any commas nor period delimiters.

<checksum type="md5">43e7dddfe4b8ab433ede429df86cabb2</checksum>

Checksum (required)

The MD5 checksum of the artwork file. See the Checksums section for more information.

  </data_file>

 </asset>

<asset type="artwork_2:3">

2:3 Season Cover Art Asset (Strongly recommended. Required for Storefront promotion.)

Describes the type of asset being delivered. You must specify type="artwork_2:3" to indicate that the asset is the cover image in 2:3 format.

<data_file>

 <locale name="en-US"/>

 <file_name>art2_3.jpg</file_name>

 <size>3540774</size>

 <checksum type="md5">eee9bbfad9657d04dd42bd60471fc3be</checksum>

</data_file>

2:3 Cover Art Data File (required, can be updated)

The data file block describes the artwork asset. In this example, the artwork being delivered is 2:3 cover art.

Allowed formats for 2:3 cover art include:

• Non-layered JPG and PNG (.jpg and .png) files must be at least 2000 x 3000 pixels.

• Layered LSR .lsr files must have a minimum size of 2000 x 3000 pixels.

In this block, the <locale> (or <locales>), <file_name>, <size>, and <checksum> tags are required.

<asset type="artwork_16:9">

16:9 Season Cover Art Asset (Strongly recommended. Required for Storefront promotion.)

Describes the type of asset being delivered. You must specify type="artwork_16:9" to indicate that the asset is the cover image in 16:9 format.

Other values for the artwork type include the following:

• backdrop_tall

• backdrop_wide

• single_color_content_logo

• full_color_content_logo

<data_file>

 <locale name="en"/>

 <file_name>ABC_GREYSANATOMY_SEASON_16_9.lsr</file_name>

 <size>8743649</size>

 <checksum>ed356adfe29df86ca4b83ede4bb2ab43</checksum>

</data_file>

16:9 Cover Art Data File (required, can be updated)

The data file block describes the artwork asset. In this example, the artwork being delivered is 16:9 cover art.

Allowed formats for 16:9 cover art include:

• LSR (.lsr)

• PNG (.png)

Cover art must be a minimum of 1920 x 1080 pixels; 3840 x 2160 pixels preferred.

In this block, the <locale> (or <locales>), <file_name>, <size>, and <checksum> tags are required.

</asset>

<asset type="full_color_content_logo">

Logo Art Asset (Strongly recommended. Required for Storefront promotion.)

Describes the type of asset being delivered. For logo art, you can specify:

• single_color_content_logo

• full_color_content_logo

<data_file>

 <locale name="en"/>

 <file_name>ABC_GREYSANATOMY_SEASON_fullcolor_logo.png</file_name>

 <size>65748</size>

 <checksum>9df86c4bb2aba4b83edeed356adfe243</checksum>

</data_file>

Logo Art Data File (required, can be updated)

The data file block describes the logo art asset. In this example, the artwork being delivered is a full-color logo.

Logo art must be:

• PNG (.png)

• 4320 x 1300 pixels

In this block, the <locale> (or <locales>), <file_name>, <size>, and <checksum> tags are required. Specifying a <territory> is not supported.

</asset>

<asset type="backdrop_wide">

Backdrop Art Asset (Strongly recommended. Required for Storefront promotion.)

Describes the type of asset being delivered. For backdrop art, you can specify:

• backdrop_tall

• backdrop_wide

<data_file>

 <file_name>ABC_GREYSANATOMY_SEASON_backdrop_wide.png</file_name>

 <size>88748</size>

 <checksum>b26c4b3edeedaba4b89df8356adfe243</checksum>

</data_file>

Backdrop Art Data File (required, can be updated)

The data file block describes the backdrop art asset. In this example, the artwork being delivered is wide backdrop.

Backdrop art must be:

• PNG (.png)

• 1680 x 3636 pixels for tall or 4320 x 3240 pixels for wide

In this block, the <file_name>, <size>, and <checksum> tags are required. Specifying locales is not supported.

 </asset>

</assets>

  </season>

</package>

XML Declaration (required)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

The character encoding of your document must be defined.

Apple accepts only UTF-8 encoding as it efficiently encodes non-Roman characters.

Important: The metadata.xml file must not contain a byte-order mark (BOM).

<package xmlns="http://apple.com/itunes/importer" version="tv5.3">

Package Container (required)

The xmlns (XML namespace) attribute is required and is needed for schema validation. It is used to declare the namespace (and associated schema) to which the tags in the XML are expected to conform. The namespace must be: http://apple.com/itunes/importer

The version attribute is required. Packages created to this specification must indicate version="tv5.3". The “tv” portion of the attribute must be in lowercase letters.

<provider>abc</provider>

Provider (required, Apple supplied)

This value should be the transactional TV provider shortname given for partner identification. The value should match the provider name used in Transporter (the value that is after -s in the Transporter command). The value supplied with the <provider> tag is case-sensitive. For example, if the provider shortname is abc, the value in the <provider> tag must be abc; not ABC. Note that it is the value you pass as an argument to Transporter, not the value in the XML, that determines the account you are delivering to. Contact your Apple Technical Representative for this value.

Example:

• OneLittleIndian

• Minimum length: 1 character

<language>en-US</language>

Language (required)

The primary language of the metadata for this package. Fields such as title and description are expected to appear in this language. When specifying languages, you can use any language as long as it is a valid BCP 47 code that consists of the language code, optional region, and optional script subtags as appropriate (for example, script is not relevant for audio). Note that while any valid language code is accepted, the Apple TV app displays content only in a limited set of languages. The table in Language Codes shows the languages available for the Storefront.

As a best practice when specifying a language, use the region subtag (for example, the US of en-US) only when it conveys helpful information, such as spelling variations between countries or regions. For example, there is generally not a need to distinguish between Japanese as used in one country versus another, so you should use only the language code subtag (ja) instead of the language code and region subtags (ja-JP). In cases where specifying a region is appropriate, use the hyphen character to combine a language subtag with a region subtag. This identifies both the language and the specific location where the language is used. For English with American spelling, use en-US; for English with British spelling, use en-GB.

The language codes are formatted according to the best practices recommended by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in a group of documents known collectively as BCP 47, and in particular, RFC 5646 (https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5646), which is part of BCP 47. An overview of these best practices is provided here: https://www.w3.org/International/articles/language-tags/.

For more information on the ISO 639-1 standard, refer to https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php.

<video>

Video (required)

Begins the video element. Only one video element can be defined per TV video XML.

<type>tv</type>

Video Type (required)

This value indicates how the Apple should process this video.

All content intended for download in the Apple TV app, including TV episodes, made-for-TV movies, sports events, and promotional content should be type tv.

<subtype>episode</subtype>

Video Subtype (required; can be updated)

Identifies the type of video you are delivering. The <subtype> tag is required. If you do not send the <subtype> tag, you will see a warning; at some point in the future, the delivery will fail. The available values are:

• "episode" indicates the video is a regular TV episode available for purchase

• "episodebonus" indicates the video is bonus content related to a given episode of a TV show

• "seasonbonus" indicates the video is bonus content related to an entire season of a TV show

<container_id>ABC_GREYSANATOMY_SEASON_004</container_id>

Container ID (required)

The container is the permanent identifier for a specific season of a series. Every episode must be delivered with the correct container ID.

In this example, “ABC_GREYSANATOMY_SEASON_004” is the container ID which references the 4th season of Grey’s Anatomy in the Apple TV app.

The container ID is defined by the provider when creating a new season through an XML delivery or in iTunes Connect.

Important: The container identifier can only contain alphanumeric characters and underscore marks; it cannot contain spaces, dashes, ampersands, other punctuation, or symbols. The container identifier is case-sensitive.

<container_position>9</container_position>

Container Position (required; can be updated)

Container position defines the track number (that is, position on the playlist) the provided episode has in the Apple TV app. Note that a season cannot have duplicate container positions.

<vendor_offer_code>408CH98720X103</vendor_offer_code>

Vendor Offer Code (optional, 1-100 bytes, see restrictions, can be updated)

An identifier which will be reported back through sales reporting channels.

Restrictions: The vendor offer code can only contain alphanumeric characters and underscore marks; it cannot contain spaces, dashes, ampersands, other punctuation, or symbols. The vendor offer code is case-sensitive and must not start with an underscore. Vendor offer codes can be numeric, but they are treated as strings, not numbers; a vendor offer code of '00000000012345' is not the same as '12345'.

<vendor_id>ABC_GREYSANATOMY_409</vendor_id>

Vendor Identifier (required, 1-100 characters, see restrictions)

The permanent value that uniquely identifies this video separately from any other video given by the provider. This ID is used for tracking your assets and reporting. Vendor identifiers cannot be reused.

If you use an internal naming scheme to identify individual episodes it should be used for the vendor identifier. If you do not have an internal naming scheme use:

NETWORK_SERIES_EPISODEID

Restrictions: The vendor identifier can only contain alphanumeric characters and underscore marks; it cannot contain spaces, dashes, ampersands, other punctuation, or symbols. The vendor identifier is case-sensitive and must not start with an underscore. If a Vendor ID is numeric, it is treated as a string, not numbers; a vendor identifier of '00000000012345' is not the same as '12345'. Vendor IDs must be at least six ASCII characters in length but have a limit of 100 ASCII characters.

<isan>0000-0001-DE1D-0000-M-0000-0000-8</isan>

ISAN (optional)

The ISAN (International Standard Audiovisual Number) is an internationally recognized numbering system identifying audiovisual works. For more information, see https://www.isan.org.

<eidr>10.5240/23B3-9CA1-888D-9266-54C9-5</eidr>

EIDR (optional)

The EIDR (Entertainment Identifier Registry) is a universal, unique identifier system for movie and television assets. Any level of EIDR is accepted in this field, so long it is in valid format. For more information, see https://www.eidr.org/about-us/.

The format of the EIDR identifier is 10.5240/XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-C, where:

• 10.5240 represents the standard prefix of an EIDR value

• X represents a hexadecimal digit

• C represents the check character

<episode_production_number>409</episode_production_number>

Episode Production Number (required, 1-39 characters, can be updated)

The provider’s production number for this episode. This value should be unique for each episode in a series.

Note: Episode production numbers may contain only alphanumeric characters, spaces, hyphens (-), and underscores (_).

<countries_of_origin>

 <country primary="true">US</country>

 <country>CA</country>

</countries_of_origin>

Country or Region of Origin (required, ISO-3166-1 country code)

Note: In this annotation description, use of the term “country” may refer to a country or region.

The ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 code of the country (or countries) where the content originates from, for example: the country where the episode was primarily produced, where the main authors and workers reside, where the main producer is established, and so on. Such determination must be made in accordance with applicable law. You must specify at least one country of origin and that country should be the primary country of origin.

You can supply additional countries as needed to associate all the countries involved in developing and creating the episode. To deliver more than one country, use the <countries_of_origin> tag, and then specify each individual country using a <country> tag. One country is designated as the primary country using the primary="true" attribute. Specifying secondary countries is optional, but you should list all countries associated with the episode.

The country of origin may differ from the production country, which is the country that provided most of the funds for production. Both the country of origin and production country are required.

For a list of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes, see https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search/code/.

For more information on ISO codes, see https://www.davros.org/misc/iso3166.html.

<production_countries>

 <country primary="true">US</country>

</production_countries>

Production Country or Region (required, ISO-3166-1 country code)

Note: In this annotation description, use of the term “country” may refer to a country or region.

The ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 code of the country responsible for the primary source of funds for the episode production. You must specify at least one production country and that country should be the country that provided most of the funds (for example, from national lotteries and other subsidies). Such determination must be made in accordance with applicable law. You can supply additional production countries as needed. Supplying at least one production country is required and that country should be designated as the primary country using the primary="true" attribute.

The production company may differ from the country of origin, which is the country where the content originates from in accordance with applicable law. Both the country of origin and production country are required.

For a list of ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes, see https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search/code/.

For more information on ISO codes, see https://www.davros.org/misc/iso3166.html.

<original_spoken_locale>en-US</original_spoken_locale>

Original Spoken Locale Language (required)

Specifies the original language spoken by the actors in the episode. This is usually the primary language of the country of origin. For example, if the episode was filmed in the United Kingdom in English, but the episode is dubbed in French for the French market, then <original_spoken_locale> would be en-GB.

When specifying languages, you can use any language as long as it is a valid BCP 47 code that consists of the language code, optional region, and optional script subtags as appropriate (for example, script is not relevant for audio). Note that while any valid language code is accepted, the Apple TV app displays content only in a limited set of languages. The table in Language Codes shows the languages available for the Storefront.

Note: This is not the dubbed language, and is different from the <language> and <locale> tags. <original_spoken_locale> is the language in which the actors’ lips move. <language> is the language used for the metadata. <locale> is used to specify the language heard on the audio file, which could be a dubbed language, that is different from the <original_spoken_locale>.

<title>Crash Into Me, Pt. 1</title>

Title (required, 1-255 characters, may be updated)

The name of the episode provided in this package. The information sent with this tag can be updated unless Apple has reviewed and confirmed the quality of the metadata.

In this example, Crash Into Me, Pt. 1 is the episode title. For a sporting event the title might be Game 4: Red Sox at Rockies.

There is a 255-byte limit strictly enforced. The data is stored in the UTF-8 encoding, so for single-byte characters (such as those drawn from the ASCII character set), this equates to a 255-character limit; for multiple-byte (e.g., Japanese) characters, this can equate to as few as 71 characters.

Important: Do not capitalize every letter of every word. Capitalize the first letter of each word as appropriate for the language.

<studio_release_title>Crash Into Me, Pt. 1</studio_release_title>

Studio Release Title (required, 1-255 bytes; may be updated)

The original title of an episode at its initial release, in any form, to the viewing public, in whichever country and language it has been first released. This is intended to tie together subsequent releases in different countries (or regions) and languages to the initial release of the episode. When submitting the package for the initial release, you should set the <studio_release_title> value to the same value as <title>.

Note: The <studio_release_title> tag is required even if the original release title is the same that is provided with the <title> tag. Beginning November 2014, if you deliver a package and do not include the <studio_release_title> tag, you will see a warning.

The information sent with this tag can be updated unless Apple has reviewed and confirmed the quality of the metadata.

<description>An ambulance crash endangers the lives of the paramedics involved, as Meredith and the Chief work on-site to save them, Bailey treats a patient who refuses her help.</description>

Description (required, 1-4,000 characters, may be updated)

A brief synopsis of the video. Be careful not to give away episode sensitive information such as surprise endings, plot spoilers, or sporting event match results. This is the more detailed description that appears when a user clicks the ellipsis (…) in the Apple TV app. The information sent with this tag can be updated unless Apple has reviewed and confirmed the quality of the metadata.

Keep in mind that a short description is derived from the first several characters of this description (the number of characters varies depending on screen configurations), followed by an ellipsis (…). For example, the short description derived from this example might become: “An ambulance crash endangers the lives of the paramedics…,” so make sure the first part of the <description> conveys useful information.

Important: Character counts are for standard 8-bit characters (that is, Roman alphabet). Fewer double-wide characters (for example, Japanese symbols) are allowed.

<release_date>2007-11-22</release_date>

Release Date (required; can be updated)

The original air date of this episode, or the date that the content was first made available to the public. The release date supplied with this tag (under <video> as opposed to under <region>) applies to the default country associated with the season. This date also applies to any region that does not have a separate release date for the episode set using the <region> block as described in TV Episode Metadata Example with Multiple Regions.

The date must be in the format YYYY-MM-DD where YYYY is the 4-digit year, MM is the 2-digit month, and DD is the two-digit day.

Important: This date is used for informational purposes and will not affect the sales availability of this video. An additional element, <sales_start_date>, controls when content becomes available for sale and is covered later in this document.

In this example, 2007-11-22 is the air date because the episode first aired on November 22, 2007.

<copyright_cline>2007 ABC Studios. All Rights Reserved.</copyright_cline>

Copyright (optional, 1-1000 characters, can be updated)

A specific copyright for this video. The format required is four-digit year followed by owner. The appropriate © symbol will automatically be added and should not be included in the data.

If omitted, a default calculated copyright will be used based on the playlist’s release date and your customer presentable provider name.

In this example, “2007 ABC Studios. All Rights Reserved.” is the copyright and is seen in the store as “©2007 ABC Studios. All Rights Reserved.”

<ratings>

Ratings (optional, can be updated)

You can specify a rating label for your TV content. For complete details, see Table 1: TV Metadata Rating Systems Values.

<rating system="us-tv" code="TV-14"/>

Rating (required if content is rated, can be updated)

A valid rating from an accepted ratings system. More than one rating may be specified, but only one rating per ratings system is allowed. The information sent with this tag can be updated.

All TV ratings have a short, plain-ASCII Apple rating code, which is supplied using the attribute named code. Standardizing on the Apple rating codes reduces errors resulting from typos.

The code attribute is currently optional, however Apple recommends that you start supplying the codes to prepare for the time in the future when the codes become required and the current method deprecated. All of the following are currently supported for delivering rating information:

Preferred Method Using the Rating Code:

<rating system="us-tv" code="TV-14"/>

Previous Method Using the Rating Label:

<rating system="us-tv">TV-14</rating>

Acceptable Method Using Both the Rating Code and the Rating Label:

<rating system="us-tv" code="TV-14">TV-14</rating>

If you use this method, the rating identified by code and the rating identified by rating label must resolve to the same rating, for example, <rating system="us-tv" code="TV-G">TV-14</rating> would be rejected.

If you submit ratings that are not supported, the package will be rejected. A complete listing of valid systems and values is located in Table 1: TV Metadata Rating Systems Values.

<advisory system="us-cable" code="AL"/>

Advisory (optional, can be updated)

A valid advisory from an accepted advisory system. More than one advisory may be specified, but each advisory must be contained within its own advisory element. The information sent with this tag can be updated.

All TV advisories have a short, plain-ASCII Apple advisory code, which is supplied using the attribute named code. Standardizing on the Apple advisory codes reduces errors resulting from typos.

The code attribute is currently optional, however Apple recommends that you start supplying the codes to prepare for the time in the future when the codes become required and the current method deprecated. All of the following are currently supported for delivering advisory information:

Preferred Method Using the Advisory Code:

<advisory system="us-cable" code="AL"/>

Previous Method Using the Advisory Label:

<advisory system="us-cable">AL</advisory>

Acceptable Method Using Both the Advisory Code and the Advisory Label:

<advisory system="us-cable" code="AL">AL</advisory>

If you use this method, the advisory identified by code and the advisory identified by advisory label must resolve to the same advisory, for example, <advisory system="us-cable" code="AL">GL</advisory> would be rejected.

If you submit advisories that are not supported, the package will be rejected. A table of valid systems and values is located in Table 2: TV Metadata Advisory Systems Values.

</ratings>

<accessibility_info>

Accessibility Information (required for U.S. deliveries; can be updated)

Begins the block that describes the availability of closed captions for the TV episode or made-for-TV movie.

Note that the <accessibility_info> tag can also be delivered within the <assets> block in an asset-only update. See TV Asset-Only Delivery/Update Example for more information.

<accessibility role="captions" available="true"/>

Accessibility (required for U.S. deliveries; can be updated)

Indicates if closed captions are available.

Attributes include:

• role: Refers to the data file for captions; "captions" is the only supported value.

• available: Indicates availability of captions. Accepted values include "true" or "false". If you have delivered closed captions within the same package, the value cannot be "false".

An additional attribute, reason_code, is used to supply the reason closed captions are not included. See TV Episode Metadata without Closed Captions and with Burned-In Text Annotated for more information. Note that the reason_code attribute is not allowed if available="true", and required when available="false".

<assets>

 <asset type="full">

Asset (required, multiple from a set)

Describes the type of asset being delivered. You must specify type="full" to indicate that the asset is the feature asset.

See Apple Video and Audio Asset Guide.

<data_file role="source">

Data File (required, can be updated)

A data file element block must be included if the video source material is delivered electronically. It describes the role of the associated file and specifies the electronically delivered media file. Since the file sent is used as the source file for the Apple encode, the role must be "source" and is required. If you do not specify the role, you will see a warning message that the role is required; at a date sometime in the future, if you do not specify the role, the delivery will fail.

In this block, the <file_name>, <size>, and <checksum> tags are required.

<locale name="en-US"/>

Locale Name (required for full source)

Identifies the language that is spoken in the audio on the source asset. The locale indicates both the language and the specific location where the language is spoken. When specifying languages for assets and localizations, you can use any language as long as it is a valid BCP 47 code that consists of the language code, optional region, and optional script subtags as appropriate (for example, script is not relevant for audio).

As a best practice when specifying a language, use the region subtag (for example, the US of en-US) only when it conveys helpful information, such as spelling variations between countries or regions. For example, there is generally not a need to distinguish between Japanese as used in one country versus another, so you should use only the language code subtag (ja) instead of the language code and region subtags (ja-JP). In cases where specifying a region is appropriate, use the hyphen character to combine a language subtag with a region subtag. This identifies both the language and the specific location where the language is used. For English with American spelling, use en-US; for English with British spelling, use en-GB.

<file_name>ABC_GREYSANATOMY_409_PRORES.mov</file_name>

File Name (required)

The name of the data file included in this electronic delivery package. The name should be relative to the package (containing no path reference “C:\” or “/Macintosh HD/”) and must contain the file name extension (.mov in this example).

Important: File names are case sensitive. A file name can contain only alphanumeric characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9) and these symbols: underscore ("_"), dash (“-”), and period (“.”). The file name must not start with an underscore, dash, or period and cannot contain spaces, other punctuation or symbols.

<size>6763970564</size>

File Size (required)

The size in bytes of the data file. Do not specify any commas nor period delimiters.

<checksum type="md5">c2108d9ea7d4ba2a0df2d4f10b1704bf</checksum>

Checksum (required)

The MD5 checksum of the data file. See the Checksums section for more information.

<!-- Note: Crop dimensions are supported for QuickTime source only. -->

<attribute name="crop.top">0</attribute>

<attribute name="crop.bottom">0</attribute>

<attribute name="crop.left">0</attribute>

<attribute name="crop.right">0</attribute>

Metadata-Based Cropping (optional, QuickTime only)

The crop rectangle for the full or preview video’s QuickTime source file. The name attribute specifies the side of the image to be cropped.

Accepted values are:

• crop.top: The number of whole pixels from the top of the encoded image to remove.

• crop.bottom: The number of whole pixels from the bottom of the encoded image to remove.

• crop.left: The number of whole pixels from the left of the encoded image to remove.

• crop.right: The number of whole pixels from the right of the encoded image to remove.

The values are always whole pixels of the encoded image. To disable cropping in one dimension, set the matching "crop.*" attribute to '0' (zero).

Note: When sending crop dimensions, send accurate dimensions without unnecessary cropping, especially horizontally. If your video does not contain inactive pixels (that is, it is not matted), you can set all the crop values to zero, or omit the crop dimension attribute tags. If you do not supply any crop dimensions, the values default to 0,0,0,0.

Important: Metadata-based cropping may only be included when sending QuickTime source and may not be used with MPEG-2 source. See Apple Video and Audio Asset Guide regarding source video.

Note: When delivering texted source material, burned-in text that falls over inactive pixels must be maintained in the attribution of crop values. Additionally, an equal number of pixels that are applied to preserve burned-in text in one region, must also be equally applied to the opposite region so that content can be displayed proportionally.

 <attribute name="image.textless_master">true</attribute>

Textless Master (required)

Specifies whether the video contains burned-in text, such as narratives burnt into the visual picture or burned-in subtitles. Narrative text is text that appears on screen to supplement the plot of the story without the use of a narrator, such as “Paris early morning, 1935.” Opening title sequences, and credits are not considered “text” in this case; those are expected to be in the video.

This attribute is required for all videos. Allowed values are true or false. In this example, the video does not have burned-in narrative or burned-in subtitles, so the attribute is set to true.

If the video contained burned-in narrative or burned-in subtitles, you would need to set the "image.textless_master" attribute to false and deliver additional attributes as needed to indicate the language in which the burned-in narrative or burned-in subtitles appear. For burned-in narrative, supply the <attribute name="image.burned_forced_narrative.locale"> tag; for burned-in subtitles, supply the <attribute name="image.burned_subtitles.locale"> tag.

 <attribute name="video_has_varying_active_region">false</attribute>

Video Has Varying Active Region (optional)

Use this attribute to specify whether the video content has varying aspect ratios. Allowed values are true or false. The value defaults to false if you omit this attribute. This attribute can be used on all video sources.

Set this attribute to true to have the asset analyzed to detect the active regions of the video. This option applies the Per Frame Rectangular Mask (PFRM). Using the metadata that is generated by the analysis, the video player’s canvas size grows or shrinks with the video content when viewed on Apple Vision Pro.

To remove metadata generated by a previous analysis, deliver an update with this attribute set to false or with this attribute removed.

</data_file>

  <production_still_image_time format="24/999 1000/nonDrop">00:00:57:02</production_still_image_time>

Production Still Image Time (optional; can be updated)

Specifies the frame to use for the production still image that will be displayed on the product page for the episode. Using the <production_still_image_time> tag on the full asset, you indicate the image time to use to cut the image from the full asset. The image time must be within the full source with a 16:9 aspect ratio. You can specify only one production still frame, which will be used for all territories.

The format can be qt_text (default) or one of the SMPTE formats illustrated in the Timecode Formats appendix. In qt_text format, the frame nearest the timecode is used for the preview image: you cannot specify a frame for the preview image using qt_text.

Note: This tag is not the same as the <preview> tag sent with the image_time attribute (for defined previews) or the <preview starttime> tag, which are used to represent the image for the preview source, not the full source. You can deliver the <production_still_image_time> tag, as well as the <preview> tag sent with the image_time attribute or the <preview starttime> tag, and the specified frame times do not need to match.

You can also deliver the production still image as a custom file, however Apple prefers that you send the production still image cut from the full asset. If you need to send the image as a file instead, the image must have the minimum dimensions of 1920 x 1080, with a 16:9 aspect ratio (subject to change). Do not send both the frame time and a separate image file in the same delivery. To deliver the image as a separate data file, omit the <production_still_image_time> tag and deliver the following:

If you omit the production still image time and do not provide a separate image file, an image will be cut from the full or preview video source asset.

<data_file role="captions">

Closed Captioning Data File (required for U.S. deliveries; can be updated)

A data file element block must be included if the captions are delivered for the associated video. The "captions" role specifies that the delivered file is intended to be used as the closed captioning file for the Apple TV app. This role must be specified, or the package will be rejected.

In this block, the <file_name>, <size>, <checksum>, and <locale> tags are required.

Important: If the content does not include closed captions, you must provide the reason why captions are not included. See the annotations for the <accessibility_info> tag in TV Episode Metadata without Closed Captions and with Burned-In Text Annotated for more information.

<data_file role="audio.visually_impaired">

  <locale name="en-US"/>

  <file_name>captions-ad.mov</file_name>

  <size>44866696</size>

  <checksum type="md5">a2db7f2f30c9744d98fa393e51cf6a93</checksum>

Audio Description (AD) Data File (optional; can be updated)

Begins the data file block that delivers an AD audio file. An Audio Description (AD) file allows visually-impaired customers to follow the video with audio that describes the plot and what is being displayed visually on the screen. The "audio.visually_impaired" role specifies that the delivered file is intended to be used as an alternate audio file for Audio Description for the Apple encode. If you are delivering an AD audio file, the file must be in 2.0 stereo and you can optionally deliver an additional AD file in 5.1 surround format (no 7.1 surround).

In this block, the <file_name>, <size>, <checksum>, and <locale> tags are required. The locale of the audio description must match the locale of a corresponding source audio file.

<locale name="en-US"/>

Locale Name (required)

Identifies the language that is used for the captions on the full source asset. The locale indicates the language and the optional region where the language is spoken. When specifying languages for assets and localizations, you can use any language as long as it is a valid BCP 47 code that consists of the language code, optional region, and optional script subtags as appropriate (for example, script is not relevant when describing audio).

You must supply the <locale> tag for closed captions even if the language of the captions is the same as the language specified with the <language> tag.

When updating a closed caption file, make sure the locale matches the locale of the file you are replacing. If the previously-delivered file did not have a locale specified, you can deliver a new file with the new locale and the existing file will be replaced. If the previously-delivered file had a locale specified and you want to replace it with a new file that has a different locale, you must first remove the existing captions file (<data_file role="captions" remove="true">). Note that the full asset can have only one caption file. See Closed Captions Asset-Only Update Examples for an example XML.

See the annotation for <locale> on the source asset above for details on specifying a language.

<file_name>captions.scc</file_name>

File Name (required)

The name of the caption file included in this electronic delivery package. The name should be relative to the package (containing no path reference “C:\” or “/Macintosh HD/”) and must contain the file name extension (.scc in this example).

Important: File names are case sensitive. A file name can contain only alphanumeric characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9) and these symbols: underscore ("_"), dash (“-”), and period (“.”). The file name must not start with an underscore, dash, or period and cannot contain spaces, other punctuation or symbols.

<size>9511</size>

File Size (required)

The size in bytes of the caption file. Do not specify any commas nor period delimiters.

<checksum type="md5">5a793a8b46037fe8aa2bdd739b49911a</checksum>

Checksum (required)

The MD5 checksum of the caption file. See the Checksums section for more information.

<attribute name="program.start.timecode">-01:00:00:00</attribute>

Timecode Offset (optional)

Indicates the timecode offset for the closed captions. Apple requires that timecodes start at a program start of 00:00:00:00, which may necessitate that captions be offset if they have been mastered to tape timecode. To keep closed captions in sync on the encoded file, use the "program.start.timecode" attribute. The value is a SMPTE HH:MM:SS:FF timecode in non-drop frame with an optional negative (-) sign for negative offsets, for example, -01:00:00:00. This feature is supported for both non-drop and drop frame timecodes.

  </data_file>

 </asset>

</assets>

<previews>

 <preview timecode_format="qt_text" start_time="00:05:13.002" end_time="00:06:27.000" image_time="00:05:45.128"/>

Defined Preview Clipping (optional; can be updated)

Begins the <previews> block that delivers the parameters for cutting a preview from the full video source. This feature should be used to ensure that all previews in a series contain individual episode-specific content excluding title sequences, previous episode synopses, or promotional material.

You define a TV preview by clipping a continuous segment of video and audio. Use the following attributes to specify the timecode format, the start and end times of the clip, and the frame to use for the preview image:

• timecode_format: defines the timecodes used for the start, end, and image times. The format can be qt_text or one of the SMPTE formats illustrated in the Timecode Formats appendix. If you omit the <timecode_format> tag, the format defaults to qt_text.

• start_time: specifies the start of the preview clipping from the source video.

• end_time: specifies the end of the preview clipping from the source video. Minimum clip duration is 30 seconds and maximum duration is 120 seconds.

• image_time (required): specifies the frame to use for the preview image. The frame can be anywhere within the full video source and the frame must be within the start_time and end_time. If you specify an image_time but use the qt_text format, the frame nearest the image_time is used for the preview image (you cannot specify a frame for the preview image using qt_text).

Note: The frame cut with the image_time attribute is not the same as the <production_still_image_time> tag, which is used to represent the image for the full source asset, not the preview source.

Important: The <previews> block and <preview> tag replace the <preview starttime=""/> tag. The tag is still supported. However, if you wish to specify a preview image and have a preview duration of 120 seconds, you must use the <previews> block and the <preview> tag instead of the <preview starttime=""/> tag. See the annotation below for how to specify only a preview start time.

</previews>

<preview starttime="273"/>

Preview Start Time (required until you start to use the previews block)

Allows a custom start time for the preview video to be specified. This feature should be used to ensure that all previews in a series contain individual episode-specific content excluding title sequences, previous episode synopses, or promotional material.

The starttime attribute should be specified in seconds from program start. If you leave out the tag, you will see a warning and the default starttime (360 seconds) will be used. At some point in the future, a delivery without the preview start time will be blocked.

In this example, the preview will be a 30-second segment of the video starting at 273 seconds from program start.

Important: The <previews> block and <preview> tag replace the <preview starttime=""/> tag. The tag is still supported. However, if you wish to specify a preview image and have a preview duration of 120 seconds, you must use the <previews> block and the <preview> tag instead of the <preview starttime=""/> tag. See the annotation above for how to specify a preview image and have a preview duration of 120 seconds.

<products>

 <product>

Product (required)

For each territory in which a video is to be sold, a product must be defined.

<territory>US</territory>

Territory (required; can be updated)

The territory (country or region) in which this video product is cleared for sale. Must be a valid ISO 3166 alpha-2 country code. Note that some countries in the ISO 3166 alpha-2 country list contain other countries (for example, United States includes Puerto Rico).

For a list of ISO 3166-1-alpha-2 codes, see https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html.

For more information on ISO codes, see https://www.davros.org/misc/iso3166.html.

Important: Worldwide products are not supported. If you include <territory>WW</territory> for a product, the package will be rejected.

<sales_start_date>2007-11-23</sales_start_date>

Sales Start Date (required; can be updated)

The date that this video is made available for sale to customers in the specified territory only. This is also known as the “street date” of the video. This field must be in YYYY-MM-DD format.

In this example, the start date of "2007-11-23" results with the episode being available for sale at midnight in the local timezone November 23, 2007.

Note: If cleared_for_sale is true, the <sales_start_date> is required.

<cleared_for_sale>true</cleared_for_sale>

Cleared For Sale (required; can be updated)

Specifies whether the episode can be sold for EST sale in the product’s territory. Accepted values are true or false. If not specified, the default is true.

Note: If cleared_for_sale is true, the <sales_start_date> is required.

<bundle_only>true</bundle_only>

Bundle Only (optional, can be updated)

Use <bundle_only> for episodes that are not for sale individually and that are only available to customers who purchase the entire season. The value must be either true or false in English. If not specified, the default is false. If set to true, the episode can only be purchased as part of the season and not as a stand-alone item. If set to false, the episode will be available for purchase as a stand-alone item.

Important: To make an episode available only with the bundle, the episode must have <cleared_for_sale> set to true.

    </product>

   </products>

  </video>

</package>

<release_date>2007-11-22</release_date>

Release Date (required, can be updated)

The original air date of this episode, or the date that the content was first made available to the public. The release date supplied with this tag (under <video> as opposed to under <region>) applies to the default country associated with the season. In this example, the default country is the US. This date also applies by default to territories that do not have an explicitly-set release date of its own for this episode set using the <region> block.

The date must be in the format YYYY-MM-DD where YYYY is the 4-digit year, MM is the 2-digit month, and DD is the two-digit day.

Important: This date is used for informational purposes and will not affect the sales availability of this video. An additional element, <sales_start_date>, controls when content becomes available for sale and is covered later in this document.

In this example, 2007-11-22 is the air date because the episode first aired on November 22, 2007.

<regions>

Regions (optional)

Begins the <regions> block used to specify regional variations in release dates (as displayed in the Store).

<region>

Region (required within the <regions> block)

A region must be specified for each territory (country or region) that requires localized release date information. In this example, the episode is being released in two territories on dates different from the release date supplied under <video>.

<territory>GB</territory>

Territory (required within the <region> block)

The territory (country or region) for the corresponding release date provided for this episode. Must be specified as an ISO 3166 alpha-2 country code. Note that some countries in the ISO 3166 alpha-2 country list contain other countries (for example, United States includes Puerto Rico)

For a list for ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 codes, see https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html.

For more information on ISO codes, see https://www.davros.org/misc/iso3166.html.

<release_date>2007-11-23</release_date>

Release Date (required within the <region> block, can be updated)

This is the date the episode was first aired in the specified territory, or the date that the content was first made available to the public in that territory. This does not affect the actual date of sale, which is specified using <sales_start_date> in the <products> block.

The release date supplied with this tag (under <region> as opposed to under <video>) is optional and applies to the associated territory. Use this tag when the release date in a territory is different from the release date (supplied under <video>) of the default country of the episode.

The date must be in the format YYYY-MM-DD where YYYY is the 4-digit year, MM is the 2-digit month, and DD is the 2-digit day.

      </region>

    </regions>

  </video>

</package>

<cue_sheet>

Cue Sheet (optional; can be updated)

Provides a list of music played in a television episode.

<cue>

Cue (required within the <cue_sheet> block)

Begins a description of a musical piece played in a television episode. There can be multiple <cue> tags in a cue sheet.

<sequence_number>1</sequence_number>

Sequence Number (required within the <cue> block)

The order number for the musical piece in the episode. This value should be unique for each musical piece listed in the cue sheet.

<time>

Time (required within the <cue> block)

The <time> tag describes when the musical piece appears in the episode and its duration.

<start_timecode>00:00:27</start_timecode>

Start Timecode (optional)

Specifies the start time of the musical piece in the episode.

Note: The format of this value is HH:MM:SS (hours:minutes:seconds).

<duration>00:04:01</duration>

Duration (required within the <cue> block)

Specifies the length of time the individual musical piece featured within the production.

Note: The format of this value is HH:MM:SS (hours:minutes:seconds).

</time>

<title>Movie Star</title>

Title (required within the <cue> block)

The title of the musical piece.

For single-byte characters (such as those drawn from the ASCII character set), there is a limit of 256 characters for track titles. For multiple-byte characters (for example, Japanese), the limit is 1024 bytes, which can equate to as many as 256 characters.

<artists>

  <artist>

    <artist_name>Róisín Murphy</artist_name>

    <apple_id>17128885</apple_id>

    <roles>

      <role>Performer</role>

      <role>Producer</role>

    </roles>

  </artist>

...

</artists>

Artists (required within the <cue> block)

Name or Apple ID and roles for each artist in the musical piece. In this context, "artist" can be any contributor including non-performing persons (for example, producer) or composition-related contributors (for example, songwriter/lyricist or composer). Individual artists should be listed separately and not grouped together (for example, "Ella Fitzgerald", "Louis Armstrong" should be used instead of "Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong"). Note that you should always include composition-related contributor information to the extent you have it.

Artist

You can refer to the artist by name (using the <artist_name> tag or by Apple ID (using the <apple_id> tag). Apple assigns every artist a unique Apple ID; Apple recommends using the Apple ID to avoid the ambiguity in cases where artists share the same name as other music artists, or actors or crew members. You can supply the <artist_name>, the <apple_id>, or both the <artist_name> and <apple_id>. If you supply both tags, the <artist_name> tag will be ignored in favor of the Apple ID. If you do not know the artist's Apple ID, you can do a metadata lookup using Artist Lookup Mode in Transporter. For any subsequent updates, you can use the <apple_id> tag instead of or in addition to the name, to avoid ambiguity.

Role

Use the <role> tag to define the part that a particular artist performs on the musical piece. Some roles are required (as shown in the list below) and other roles are optional. See Recommended Contributor Roles for a list of all the roles recognized by the Apple TV app.

• Performer: always required.

• Songwriter (or Composer): always required. Note that songwriter and composer are often used to refer to the same contributor; you can specify either songwriter or composer to refer to an artist, but at least one of those roles is required.

• Featuring (or With): required if there is a featured artist on the musical piece. Adding the artist with the Featuring or With role ensures that the episode will show up on the featured artist’s page.

Additional roles (such as Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals, Producer) are optional, but highly recommended. See Recommended Contributor Roles for a list of recommended contributor roles. If your exact role is not mentioned in the tables, you can still deliver it. These recommendations are included to ensure commonly-used roles are formatted consistently.

Note: You can use the following roles to designate the songwriter: <role>Composer</role>, <role>Lyricist</role>, or <role>Songwriter</role>. You can add as many songwriters/composers as needed for the musical piece. Failure to add full and accurate songwriter metadata in a timely manner may delay payment of royalties to publishers and songwriters.

Primary Status

Primary status indicates whether or not the episode appears on the artist’s page on the Store. Typically, there are one or two primary (lead) artists and several supporting artists. Primary status is reserved for the primary (lead) artists. Do not tag supporting artists or contributors as primary.

<isrc>GBAYE0702647</isrc>

ISRC (optional)

The ISRC (international standard recording code) for the musical piece. ISRCs must be unique across all recordings. It is normal for an ISRC to appear in the Store more than once if the same recording is included in more than one production (for example, an album, music video, TV episode, or film). In this case, the musical piece must have exactly the same audio. A re-recorded, remixed or otherwise different (no matter how similar) musical piece must have a unique ISRC.

Important: ISRCs must not include dashes and should remain only letters and numbers as in the example, GBAYE0702647.

<iswc>T-900.282.518-5</iswc>

ISWC (optional)

The ISWC (international standard work code) for musical pieces. This uniquely identifies intellectual property such as musical and literary works.

<copyright_cline>2007 Parlophone UK</copyright_cline>

Copyright © Line (optional; can be updated)

Copyright line for the musical piece. The format required is year followed by owner. The appropriate © symbol will automatically be added and should not be included in the data.

<copyright_pline>2007 Parlophone UK</copyright_pline>

Copyright P-Line (optional; can be updated)

Performance copyright line for the piece. The format required is year followed by owner. The appropriate ℗ symbol will automatically be added and should not be included in the data. Some videos don't seem to have this P-line in the slate. Remove this tag if this is the case.

<usage>Featured</usage>

Usage (optional)

Specifies how the musical piece was featured in the production using one of the following values:

• Background: Music that is not audible to the characters in the production, such as “mood music.”

• Featured: Music played by featured performers, or as part of the action presented and audible to the characters, such as the character dancing to a song.

• Signature: Theme tune of a production or program.

      </cue>

. . .

    </cue_sheet>

  </video>

</package>

<read_only_value key="content-review-status">Live-Reviewed</read_only_value>

Review Status Read-Only Value

This key attribute ("content-review-status") supplies the current review status of the episode.

Before content can go live on the Apple TV app, Apple may review and confirm the quality of the metadata and the assets, and as a result, Apple may choose to ignore updates to fields that have been edited. You can check the review status to see if the content has been reviewed; if the status indicates “Reviewed,” some tag updates may be ignored.

Below are the possible review statuses:

• Not Live / Waiting for Review: Content has not yet been reviewed, and must be reviewed before it can go live.

• Ready / Reviewed: Content has been reviewed and will go live on the specified sales start date or pre-order start date.

• Ready / Not Reviewed: Content has not been reviewed, and will go live on the specified sales start date or pre-order start date.

• Live / Reviewed: Content has been reviewed, and is live based on the specified sales start date or pre-order start date.

• Live / Not Reviewed: Content has not been reviewed, and is live based on the specified sales start date or pre-order date.

<video>

. . .

 <products>

  <product>

    <territory>US</territory>

    . . .

    <read_only_info>

      <read_only_value key="apple-id">269066135</read_only_value>

      <read_only_value key="storeURL-US">https://itunes.apple.com/us/

tv-season/crash-into-me-pt.-1/id264638786?i=269066135&amp;ls=1</read_only_value>

    </read_only_info>

  </product>

 </products>

Apple ID Read-Only Value

A read-only info block appears in the <product> block of the episode. Each <product> block is territory-specific and the <read_only_info> block applies to the product’s territory.

The key attribute is "apple-id". Apple assigns every episode a unique Apple ID. You can refer to the episode by Apple ID when communicating with Contact Us support instead of the episode name.

Note: The Apple ID is also returned in a “comment” field <!--Apple ID: 269066135--> just below the <video> tag. That value is the same as the value in the <read_only_value> tag. When you do a metadata lookup and then redeliver that metadata, comment fields and read-only tags are ignored.

Store URL Read-Only Value

The key attribute "storeURL" indicates where this content appears on the Apple TV app, linking to the page in Apple TV that shows this episode for this territory. Note that the country code portion of the "storeURL" (the -US in this example) refers to the territory.

<video>

<assets>

  <asset type="full">

    . . .

    <read_only_info>

      <read_only_value key="proxy-encode-url">http://a1997.phobos.apple.com

/us/r30/Video6/v4/20/a4/6a/20a46aa9-906f-251b-3277-73dfeae404fd/

temp..qgqzrqol.s.m4v?downloadKey=1409183166_6ea6f8eafc9148133fcfe423d2830f4f</read_only_value>

      <read_only_value key="proxy-encode-url-expires">

2014-08-27T16:46:06-07:00</read_only_value>

    </read_only_info>

  </asset>

</assets>

Content URL

A read-only info block appears in the <asset> block for the full asset. Apple creates a scratch encode of the video for your asset so you can confirm the synchronization before uploading your package again.

"proxy-encode-url" provides the URL where you can download the scratch encode.

"proxy-encode-url-expires" tells you how long the scratch encode will be available. If you need to access the URL after it expires, do a metadata lookup again to receive a new URL to the scratch encode for your asset.

AU

au-tv

G

G

Recommended for general audiences

PG

PG

Parental guidance is recommended for young viewers

M

MA

This programme is not recommended for people under the age of 15

MA15+

MA15+

This programme is not recommended for people under the age of 15. May contain intense and/or frequent depictions of sexual activity or also contain violence, coarse language, the use of illegal drugs, mentions of suicide and/or other adult themes.

R18+

R18+

Restricted to 18 and over

CA

ca-tv

C

C

All children

C8

C8

Children 8 and above

G

G

General

PG

PG

Parental Guidance Suggested

14+

14+

Teens 14 and above

18+

18+

Adults

DE

de-tv

Ab 0 Jahren

0+

No age restriction in accordance with § 14 JuSchG

Ab 0 Jahren

ALL*

No age restriction in accordance with § 14 JuSchG

Ab 6 Jahren

6+

Programme is not recommended for children under the age of 6

Ab 12 Jahren

12+

Programme is not recommended for children under the age of 12

Ab 16 Jahren

16+

Programme is not recommended for children under the age of 16

Ab 18 Jahren

18+

Programme is not recommended for children under the age of 18

FR

fr-tv

Tout Public

TP

Suitable for all ages

-10

-10

Programme may include scenes or topics not recommended for children age 9 and under

-12

-12

Programme may include scenes or topics not recommended for children age 11 and under

-16

-16

Programme may include scenes or topics not recommended for children age 15 and under

-18

-18*

Programme may include scenes or topics not recommended for children age 17 and under

UK

uk-tv

U

U

Suitable for all ages

PG

PG

Parental Guidance

12

12

Suitable for 12 years and over

15

15

Suitable for 15 years and over

18

18

Suitable only for adults

Caution

C

Programme contains adult material

US

us-tv

TV-Y

TV-Y

Appropriate for all children

TV-Y7

TV-Y7

For children age 7 and above

TV-Y7-FV

TV-Y7-FV

For children age 7 and above; may contain fantasy violence

TV-G

TV-G

Suitable for all ages

TV-PG

TV-PG

Program contains material that parents may find unsuitable for younger children

TV-14

TV-14

Program contains some material that many parents would find unsuitable for children under 14 years of age

TV-MA

TV-MA

Designed to be viewed by adults and may be unsuitable for children under 17

AU

au-tv

A

A

For adult themes and/or dangerous stunts

L

L

For coarse language

S

S

For sexual references and/or sex scenes

H

H

For horror or supernatural themes

D

D

For drug references and/or drug use

N

N

For nudity

V

V

For violence

SN

SN

For supernatural themes

W

W

For war themes or footage

B

B

For colourful behaviour

US

us-cable

V

V

Violence

MV

MV

Mild Violence

GV

GV

Graphic Violence

AL

AL

Adult Language

GL

GL

Graphic Language

AC

AC

Adult content

SC

SC

Sexual Content

N

N

Nudity

BN

BN

Brief Nudity

RP

RP

Rape

US

us-tv

D

D

Dialog

S

S

Sexual Content

V

V

Violence

L

L

Language