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TV Value-added material (VAM)
This article outlines how to deliver TV trailer and bonus value-added material (VAM). For guidance on movies trailer delivery, see Video in the Technical asset requirements section.
Trailers and bonus content for TV content are delivered and displayed on the storefront on a season level. Similar to episode delivery, VAM titles are treated as children of a season. Each VAM content requires:
- A unique identifier/SKU
- Dedicated metadata (MEC)
- Dedicated manifest (MMC)
- Avails (EMA)
- Component-based playable package with a semi-textless mezzanine and discrete timed text and secondary audio.
- Artwork
Supported VAM types
Prime Video supports delivery of trailer and bonus content. These are differentiated upon metadata delivery by providing a "promotion" value for trailers and a "supplemental" value for bonus. Categorizing these correctly is essential as it drives the storefront experiences by accurately placing each VAM in the appropriate placement in the title display page.
- Trailers
Main trailer, teaser, 30-second trailer, title announcement, etc. - Bonus
Behind the Scenes, bloopers, Making of, etc.
Storefront experience
VAM content is displayed on a title's display page in two unique placements:
Play Trailer button
- Displayed next to episode play button
- Allows all customers to "sample" a trailer without needing to make a purchase or subscribe to a channel
- If only a single trailer is delivered, it will be available with the "Trailer" button and no Extras tab appears.
- Extras tab appears only when:
- More than a single trailer is provided (i.e. a teaser and a main trailer are delivered)
- Trailer(s) and bonus are provided
- Only bonus content is provided
- Titles delivered with a "promotion" Worktype in the MEC appear under Trailers
- Titles delivered with a "supplemental" Worktype in the MEC appear under Bonus
- VAM is ordered according to latest start date submitted in the Avails. Prime Video reserves the right to re-order VAM content to provide the best customer experience.
Metadata (MEC) references
MEC delivery for TV VAM is nearly identical to a TV episode as all required fields for episodes are also required for VAM. To successfully ingest VAM metadata, make sure parent level metadata (series and season) are submitted first.
The following table lists VAM-relevant fields in MEC title metadata:
Field name |
Definition and notes |
Accepted values |
Prime Video usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| TitleDisplayUnlimited | The title which will be displayed on the storefront. It's recommended to only include the VAM type and exclude the main title of the Parent. Localized values are expected when localized metadata for the Parent is provided. |
Suggested title examples:
|
Required |
| WorkType | Type of the work.
|
promotional |
Required |
| Parent | Identifies the parent (season) title. |
Required for WorkType "promotion" and "supplemental" |
|
| @relationshipType | Type of the work.
|
|
Required for Parent |
| ParentContentID | ContentID of the season metadata |
Required |
|
| SequenceInfo | Sequence information for VAM. Required for injestion, but not currently used to determine storefront ordering. |
Integer |
Required for WorkType "promotion" and "supplemental" |
| Number | Sequence number that will be used to identify the display order of VAM. Order priority is determined by the highest sequence number provided. The highest number appears first. |
Integer |
Required for WorkType "promotion" and "supplemental" |
Ratings
If a VAM title has been assigned a rating supported by Prime Video, it must be included in the metadata. If the title hasn't been assigned a rating, an Amazon Maturity Rating (AMR) with the best value estimation is recommended.
Manifest (MMC) references
MMC delivery for VAM content is identical to an episode or movie MMC delivery.
Content rights (EMA Avails)
Avail delivery is required to publish TV VAM content for all business lines avails are being submitted. VAM avails can be delivered along with your episode avails or separately on a dedicated VAM tab. Please reference the samples available on this page for more information. Note that not all license types can be used for VAM content.
TrailersAll trailers (delivered with a promotion value in the MEC) must be submitted as FVOD. This ensures that customers can sample content without being logged in, making a purchase, or subscribing to a channel.
BonusBonus content (delivered with a supplemental value in the MEC) can be submitted as FVOD. Use FVOD if the content is intended to be available to all customers.
The following table lists VAM-relevant fields in EMA avails:
Field name |
Definition and notes |
Accepted values |
Prime Video usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| WorkType | Type of the work. |
supplemental |
Required |
| LicenseType |
|
supplemental |
Required |
To drive title anticipation, TV VAM content can be published prior to episodes being published when an earlier start date is submitted in the Avails. For the display page of a TV title to be eligible for publishing, series level metadata and season level metadata and artwork (cover, box, hero) are required.
Artwork
Trailer and bonus art is 16:9 artwork capturing context for the trailer or bonus content. Similar to episodic art, this is usually a still from the trailer or bonus and must be free of any text elements unless it's a part of the overall image (e.g., a sign behind the protagonist with text on it). The accepted value for Purpose in the manifest delivery is "cover&qout;.
Samples
Download MEC trailer sample file- Download MEC bonus sample file
- Download trailer sample file
- Download MMC bonus sample file
- Download EMA simplified (only VAM) sample file [coming soon]
- Download EMA full TV (VAM + episodes) sample file [coming soon]
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