Video Central

This topic outlines the linear metadata requirements (like channel, program, and schedule information) for content partners to integrate linear channels with Prime Video. Our goal is to have optimal discoverability of partners’ selection for customers, and to maintain or exceed parity with other delivery methods of the channel, to ensure customers never miss a moment that matters to them.

Overall requirements

To ensure customers always enjoy a consistently high-quality experience across all their linear channels, we require all partners to do the following:

Deliver program metadata (such as title, description, images, and so on) and broadcast schedules to Prime Video for the primary locale(s) (language + territory) where the channel will air. Currently, this can only be done through a metadata partner.
Provide (at a minimum) 7 days of complete, and accurate, upcoming programs and schedules. At any given time, providing up to 14 days of upcoming programs and schedules is recommended.
Final programming changes and updates are required a minimum of 24 hours before the airing to provide the best customer experience. For live events’ update requirements, please see Linear and live events.

Linear channel metadata requirements (by attribute)

Linear channel onboarding information

To set up a new linear channel, Prime Video requires the following linear channel onboarding information to ensure a consistent customer experience.

Input	Description
Channel Display Name	The customer-facing name of the linear channel. This is displayed to customers who access your channel on Prime Video.
Territory	The territory/territories in which this linear channel is available (for example, ES, FR, US).
Language(s)	The language(s) in which the programs will air (for example, es, fr, en).
Time Zone	The time zone in which the schedule for this linear channel will be provided. Prime Video translates all schedules to UTC time zone.
Channel Logo Art	The actual logo asset, to be used in the Prime Video Live TV electronic program guide (EPG). For an example, see the Linear artwork section later in this page. Specifications: · Aspect ratio: 16:9 · Size: 1920 x 1080 · Format: PNG Requirements: · Must be a fully cropped asset, centered vertically (vertical padding is OK to fit into the 16:9 container, as long as padding is symmetric on top and bottom). · Logo color should be mono-white (0xFFFFFF) and fully opaque (100% opacity). · Background should be fully transparent: 0% opacity.
Channel Cover Art	Colorful artwork featuring a channel’s logo prominently displayed against an aesthetically pleasing backdrop, to be used in carousels that use channel metadata. For an example, see the Linear artwork section later in this page. Specifications: · Aspect ratio: 16:9 · Size: 3840 x 2160 · Format: JPG or PNG · File size: 10 MB (maximum) Requirements: · Include readable channel logo. · Channel logo should be centered vertically and horizontally to avoid infringing on safe zones. · Should not include people/characters or any other branding elements aside from channel logo. · Should not have a transparent background. · Safe zones: Top padding of 320 px, bottom padding of 480 px, and left and right padding of 120 px.
Channel Poster Art	Key requirements: · Include readable channel logo. · Channel logo should be centered vertically and horizontally to avoid infringing on safe zones. · Should not include people/characters or any other branding elements aside from channel logo. · Should not have a transparent background. · Safe zones: Top and bottom padding of 240 px, and left and right padding of 80 px.
Fallback Rating	Prime Video will use this in the absence of a delivered rating. This is the most restrictive rating for content that airs on your linear channel. This value is used to enable parental controls when individual airings and programs don’t have them.

Supported program types

Prime Video metadata requirements for programs included on a linear channel vary by the type of program being aired. Prime Video supports the following program types:

Movie: A program of any length whose content is not serialized, and which is prerecorded when originally released.
TV Series, TV Season, and TV Episode: These are hierarchical entities. TV Episodes have a reference to TV Season and TV Series (where they exist). TV Seasons have a reference to TV Series. Examples of these are TV Shows, News, Entertainment Magazines, Soap Operas, Game Shows, and Reality Shows. TV Episodes are the only entity of this hierarchy that should appear in schedules.
Sports programs: A sports program models a sport event with a single competitor (man vs. nature), team vs. team (such as baseball or tennis), or groups (such as racing or track and field) of participants. Sport, League, Team, Tournament, Round, and Venue information is used to enrich the customer experience for this type of program.
Event: Events are used for stand-alone programs taking place at a physical location that may be broadcast live (for example: Live Aid concert, Tournament of Roses parade, or Telethons). This program type must not be used for sports. Events may also be non-sports tournaments or competitions (such as the Miss America Pageant). Where the event takes place over several rounds but is independent from a TV show, the tournament and round fields are used.
Other: This program type is used to provide basic airing information for program types that are not merchandised by Live Events or contributed to downstream program catalogs (for example: infomercials, paid programming, or unknown local programming). Other must not be used to avoid creating series or seasons entities.
Off Air: This program type is used to communicate to customers that no programs are airing at this time. It may also be used to provide details of upcoming program(s) or otherwise customize the off-air experience.
TBA: This program is used to communicate that a program will be airing at this time (To Be Announced), but that final details are not yet available. All TBA programs must be resolved to other program types at least 7 days before airing.

Linear program metadata requirements

The following table lists the required and recommended metadata for all program types. Locale (language + territory) information for the primary language(s) of the country where the program will air is required. For the languages provided with the broadcast (audio and subtitles), locale information is recommended. All information must follow the requirements included in the Prime Video Linear Partner Integration Guide.

Input	Description	Program Type	Requirement
Program ID	Your identifier for the program (such as TV show, movie, and so on). These IDs are expected to be durable; that is, they do not change and are unique to each program, in perpetuity.	All	Required
Airing Date and Time	The date and time that determines when the program will air on your channel(s). The 24-hour day always corresponds to the UTC 12:00 am boundary, and time is never used without a date.	All	Required
Duration	Used to identify the length of the program or airing. These are represented in ISO-8601 duration format (for example, P1H30M for one hour and 30 minutes).	All	Required
Live	Indicates that this program is being broadcast in real time.	All	Required
New	Indicates that the program is being aired for the first time.	All	Required
Program Title	A localized string that represents the title of the program and the locale(s) to which it applies. For live events, please refer to Linear and live events. Note: Program titles must not contain the words “Live” or “Replay”.	All	Required
Cover art	Cover art appears primarily in the carousels. The program title must be present on the cover art. For an example, see the Linear artwork section later in this page. Please note, artwork must be delivered without any branding elements, or burned-in “Live” or “Replay” text. The technical specifications are: · 16:9 JPEG with program title · Preferred size is 3840 x 2160 · Minimum acceptable size is 1920 x 1080 For optimal customer experience on Prime Video, the following safe zones are recommended: Top padding of 160 px, left and right padding of 60 px each, and a bottom padding of 240 px.	TV Series	Required
		TV Season	Recommended
		TV Episode	Optional
		Movie	Required
		Other	Required
		Live events	Required
Poster art	Poster art is primarily used in carousels within mobile experiences. The program title must be present on the poster art, similar to the cover art specified above. For an example, see the Linear artwork section later in this page. Note: The word “Live” must not be burned into any artwork. The technical specifications are: · 2:3 PNG or JPG with program title · Preferred size is 2000 x 3000 px. 1920 x 2880 px is acceptable. For optimal customer experience on Prime Video, the following safe zones are recommended: Top and bottom padding of 240 px each, and left and right padding of 80 px each.	TV Series	Required
		TV Season	Recommended
		TV Episode	Optional
		Movie	Required
		Other	Required
		Live events	Required
Background art	Background art (previously known as Hero art) is used as the main background on detail pages behind the title metadata (main title, rating, synopsis). This artwork must be free of any text elements unless it’s a part of the overall image, for example, a sign behind the protagonist with text on it. For an example, see the Linear artwork section later in this page. The technical specifications are: · 16:9 JPEG without program title · Preferred size is 3840 x 2160 · Minimum acceptable size is 1920 x 1080 When creating hero or background art, it is recommended to position key visual details on the right side of the image. This is because the left side will be overlaid with a UI gradient and metadata on living room and web devices, potentially obscuring content placed in this area. Additionally, the following safe zones are recommended: Top, bottom, left, and right padding of 120 px.	TV Series	Recommended
		TV Season	Recommended
		TV Episode	Required
		Movie	Required
		Other	Required
		Live events	Required
Box art	Box art appears in search. The program title must be present on the box art. The technical specifications are: · 3:4 (movies) or 4:3 (TV seasons) JPEG with program title · Preferred size is 2560 x1920 (4:3) and 1920 x 2560 (3:4) · Minimum acceptable size is 1600 x 1200 (4:3) and 1200 x 1600 (3:4) For optimal customer experience on Prime Video, the following safe zones are recommended for movie and season box art: Top and bottom padding of 240 px, left and right padding of 80 px each.	All	Recommended
Genre	A descriptive category for your program. Supported values are listed in Languages, localization, and genres. You can use up to three genres per program.	All	Required
Release Year	Year of release (can be used to disambiguate between programs).	All	Required
Rating	Ratings convey the program certification for age-appropriate viewer restrictions. Territory-specific ratings systems and values are required for all programs broadcast on your linear channel. This input is displayed to customers and may trigger PIN prompting if customers have that feature enabled. Learn more about Ratings.	All	Required
Content Descriptors	Content Descriptors are legally required in certain territories. Supported ratings and descriptors are listed in the Ratings documentation.	All	Conditionally required
Description (short description)	A localized string that describes the program without giving away the story or details of its premise. For Live Events, there is a 400-character limit.	All	Required
Run Length	Original unedited length of the program without commercials, in ISO-8601 Duration format.	All	Required
Season ID	The identifier for the season of the series.	TV Series/TV Season	Required
Episode ID	The identifier for the episode of the season/series.	TV Series/TV Season	Required
Venue	Location information for an event. Venue name and city are required fields; street address is optional.	Sports	Required
Event start	The time when the actual match starts (such as kick-off time), not necessarily the broadcast start time.	Sports	Required
Sport	The name of the sport as defined by the governing body, and optionally locale-specific names (such as “Association Football” and “Soccer”).	Sports	Required
League	League associated with the sports program (such as “National Football League”).	Sports	Required
Tournament	Tournament associated with the sports program or event (for example, “Wimbledon”).	Sports	Required
Round	Round of play associated with a tournament game or match for a sports program. (For example: “Semi-finals " or “round of 16.”)	Sports	Required
Team	Official names for participating teams for a match (or game). (For example: use “New York Knickerbockers” instead of “The Knicks.”	Sports	Required
External ID	External IDs are recommended for TMS, IMDb, and Sports Radar known entities.	All	Recommended
Synopsis (long description)	A concise but entertaining summary of the major points of the program. Synopses are typically longer than descriptions.	All	Recommended
Keyword	A localized string that will be used as a search term for the program in the future. (For example: “Star Wars” as a keyword would be appropriate for any TV show/movie set in the Star Wars universe.)	All	Recommended
Studio	Provides references to the creative organizations.	All	Recommended
Release Date	The date the program was first available in its original territory.	All	Recommended
Credits	Provides cast and crew information. For Sports and Events, it provides team roster, coach, and/or performer information.	All	Optional
Picture Color	Picture color attributes are an enumerated value that describes the characteristics of the picture. Valid values are found in the MovieLabs PictureColor specification.	All	Optional
Release Event	Provides the dates of various types of program releases in a specific territory.	All	Optional
Content related to	Mechanism used by Movie Labs mdmec 2.10 to link content to Works, Characters, Persons or Groups, Periods, Places, or Events.	All	Future use

Linear artwork

Artwork is key to discovery of content and an engaging customer experience. This section provides examples of the various artwork assets Prime Video requires for linear content. Visit the Linear and live events page for the most recent specifications and artwork examples for linear and live events.

Note: For programs that are part of a hierarchy, such as episodes of a TV show, Prime Video uses fallback logic to ensure a baseline customer experience is maintained. For example, if an episodic background art asset is missing, Prime Video falls back to the season or series hero art, whichever is available. If no art is found in the hierarchy, Prime Video falls back to the channel logo.

Important: The images provided below are to show design requirements, and may not reflect required image size.

Channel Logo Art

Do	Don’t	Do

Use monochrome white and stacked version of the channel logo. Make sure not to use a thin font.	Avoid using a color, dark and/or horizontal version of the channel logo.	Use stacked and monochrome white version of the logo for program in the electronic program guide (EPG).

Channel Cover Art

Do	Don’t

Use the main logo in a readable and legible size, displayed against an aesthetically pleasing backdrop.	Avoid placing a small channel logo over a solid black, transparent, or flat background.