In bulk file delivery, language holdbacks and allowed languages are used to indicate to Prime Video whether a language asset (timed text or audio) for a specified title is accessible in a given territory. This information is submitted in the EMA Avail.
There are two fields used to control language asset availability in the avails. These fields are optional. If they are left blank, no holdbacks are applied, and all delivered timed text and audio assets will be available to customers for the specific offer and territory. The AllowedLanguage (HoldbackExclusionLanguage in v1.6) and HoldbackLanguage fields can’t both be populated in a single line. If one is used, the other must be blank.
- HoldbackLanguage
These languages must be excluded from distribution in the specified territory/terms. - AllowedLanguages (HoldbackExclusionLanguage in v1.6)
Only these languages are allowed to be distributed in the specified territory/terms.
Language fields
Prime Video uses “language-LOCALE” codes to enable territory-specific languages. For example, the US uses en-US as a primary “language-LOCALE” code. Use the supported language codes in our Excel workbook.
If a holdback is provided without referencing a LOCALE (such as US), holdbacks are applied to all territory variations of the provided language. For example, if “en” is entered as a heldback language, and “en-US” and “en-GB” assets are delivered to Prime Video, both versions are suppressed in offers because a specific LOCALE wasn’t identified. Alternatively, if “en-US” or “en-GB” are entered as a holdback, and an “en” asset is available, the asset is suppressed.
If you require more than one language to be held back, all languages must be included in a single field, using commas to separate them. See the examples in the following table.
| HoldbackLanguage | AllowedLanguages | Behavior |
| es-MX:dub, ja-JP | | Spanish (Mexico) audio is held back. All other languages will be available. |
| es, ja-JP, fr-FR | | All Spanish, Japanese, and French assets are held back. All other languages will be available. |
| | ja-JP, fr-FR | Only Japanese and French timed text and audio are allowed. All other languages will be held back. |
| | ja-JP, fr-FR, de-DE, pt-BR | Japanese, French, German, and BR Portuguese are available. All other languages will be held back. |
Usage examples
The following table demonstrates how to apply the asset type values for different scenarios.
HoldbackLanguage | Behavior |
en-US | English audio and English timed text will be held back. |
en-US:any | English audio and English timed text will be held back. |
en-US:subdub | English audio and English timed text will be held back. |
en-US:sub | English timed text will be held back. |
en-US:dub | English audio will be held back. English timed text (if present) will be available. |
Muxed audio
If a language is entered under the AllowedLanguages field, the language of the muxed audio (audio married with the video) must be entered as well. If the muxed audio language isn’t included, that audio track won’t be available to customers and publishing will be blocked if a single audio source was delivered.
Here’s an example for a title going live in Italy. The following assets are delivered:
- Video muxed with English audio
- English closed captioning
- Italian subtitles
- Italian dubbed audio
The following table shows the behavior and the customer impact of different entries in the HoldbackLanguage and AllowedLanguages fields.
HoldbackLanguage | AllowedLanguages | Behavior | Customer impact |
| it-IT:any, en-US:dub | English audio, Italian dub, and Italian subtitles will be available. English closed captions will be held back. | Limited selection but acceptable for Italy. |
en-US:sub |
| All assets will be available except the English closed captions, which will be held back. | Limited selection but acceptable for Italy. |
it-IT:sub |
| All assets will be available except the Italian subtitles, which will be held back. | No Italian subtitles available in Italy. Not ideal. |
|
| If no holdbacks are applied, all delivered assets will be available to customers. | Ideal experience, maximized selection. |
en-US |
| Italian subs and dubs will be available. English audio and English closed captions will be held back. | Lack of original language audio, resulting in poor customer experience. |
| it-IT | Italian subs and dubs will be available. English audio and English closed captions will be held back. | Lack of original language audio, resulting in poor customer experience. |
| it-IT:sub | All assets except Italian subs will be held back. Title will not be publishable due to lack of available audio. | Title will not be available to customers. |
