How to Publish a TV Series

Deliver every required component across series, seasons, and episodes to reach customers worldwide

~4 min read October 28, 2026

What It Takes to Publish a TV Series

TV series content is organized in a three-level hierarchy: Series, Season, and Episode. Content rights, metadata, playable assets, and artwork each apply at specific levels within this hierarchy.

Publishing a TV series on Prime Video has five publishing requirements. Each requirement covers a distinct category of content. Missing even one will block your title from going live.

Understanding the TV Series Structure

Prime Video organizes TV series content in a three-level hierarchy. Each level serves a distinct purpose in how your content is stored, displayed, and delivered to customers.

Level

What It Represents

What Is Delivered at This Level

Series

The overall show (for example, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, long-running soap operas)

Series-level title metadata only

Season

A group of episodes released as one season or volume

Season metadata and season-level artwork

Episode

A single episode within a season

Episode metadata, playable assets (video, audio, timed text), and episodic artwork

[ICON] Quick Tip

Quick Tip

  • Metadata is required at the series, season, and episode level.
  • Every episode in every season requires its own playable assets, timed text, and episodic artwork.
  • Content rights are submitted at the episode level.

Publishing Requirements

All TV series fields fall into one of three categories. Understanding these categories helps you prioritize your submission and avoid delays.

Category

What It Means for You

Required

Your title will not publish without these fields for the applicable content type. Providing only required fields results in a basic customer experience.

Enhanced

These fields are not required for publishing. Providing them improves discoverability, placement, and the customer experience.

Discarded

Amazon does not use this field.

Component Breakdown

The table below lists the components to publish a TV series on Prime Video.

Component

Requirement

What It Covers

Guide

Playable Assets (Video, Audio)

Required

  • Video mezzanine file
  • Original language audio
  • Dubbed audio (if applicable)
  • Descriptive audio (if applicable)

Video Guide
Audio Guide

Timed Text

Required

  • Subtitles
  • Closed captions (Captions/SDH preferred)
  • Forced narratives

Timed Text Guide

Metadata

Required

  • Title and synopsis (series, season, and episode level)
  • Runtime, genre, and subgenre
  • Director and cast

Metadata Guide

Artwork

Required

  • Season-level: Cover Art, Box Art, Poster Art, Hero Art
  • Episode-level: Episodic Art (required for every episode)

Artwork Guide

Content Rights

Required

  • Launch dates and pricing by business line (TVOD, Channels, SVOD CPH)

Content Rights

Trailer and Bonus Content

Enhanced

Promotional content associated with the season.
Delivery includes its own:

  • Playable assets
  • Content rights
  • Metadata
  • Timed text

Value-Added Material (VAM) Specification

Delivering via MovieLabs

TV series on Prime Video can currently only be delivered using the MovieLabs specification. The MovieLabs specification organizes your publishing requirements into five components.

MovieLabs Delivery Components at a Glance

Use the table below to understand what each component does and how it is delivered. Deliver all of the components below via your chosen file ingestion method (Aspera or AWS S3).

Component

Required For

Why It Is Important

Delivery Method

Format

Content Rights via EMA Avails

TVOD, Channels, SVOD CPH

Defines territory, license type, duration, and pricing

Bulk File Delivery

XLS (EMA v1.6 to v1.9) currently supported

Title Metadata (MEC)

All titles

Describes your title at series, season, and episode level

Bulk File Delivery

XML (MEC v2.6)

Playable Assets

All titles

Video, audio, subtitles, forced narratives, and dub cards for each episode

Standard Delivery (Aspera or S3)

Media files (per PV spec)

Global Artwork

All titles

Cover Art, Box Art, Poster Art, Hero Art (season), and Episodic Art (every episode)

Standard Delivery (Aspera or S3)

JPEG or PNG (RGB)

Asset Manifest (MMC)

All titles

Maps all assets to the correct title and rights window

Bulk File Delivery

XML (MMC v1.5)

MovieLabs Packaging Requirements

For full details on MovieLabs delivery please visit MovieLabs Packaging Requirements. To see sample files for delivery via the MovieLabs spec, visit our Sample File Repository.

EMA Avails (Content Rights)

Avails are the licensing terms that authorize Prime Video to distribute your content. They answer four questions: what to sell, where to sell it, when to make it available, and at what price.

Content Rights

For full details on content rights please visit the Content Rights hub.

Title Metadata (MEC File)

Your MEC file contains all the descriptive information customers use to make viewing decisions. It includes your title, synopsis, runtime, genre, director, cast, ratings, and more.

For TV series, metadata is delivered at three levels: series, season, and episode. Each level requires its own metadata set. You can deliver localized versions in addition to the original language.

Title Metadata: MovieLabs MEC XML

For full details on title metadata please visit Title Metadata: MovieLabs MEC XML.

Asset Manifest (MMC File)

Your MMC file maps all deliverables to the correct title and rights window. It tells Prime Video systems where each file goes. Without a valid MMC file, your assets cannot be matched to your title.

For TV series, the MMC maps assets at the episode level. Each episode’s video, audio, timed text, and episodic artwork must be referenced in your MMC file.

Playable Assets

Playable assets are the files served to customers when they press play. Every episode in your series requires its own complete set of playable assets.

Video Playable Assets

For full details on playable assets please visit Video Requirements for Playable Assets.

Audio for Playable Assets

For full details on audio for playable assets please visit our Audio hub.

Timed Text

For full details on timed text please visit Captions and Subtitles for Playable Assets.

Global Artwork

Your artwork appears on the title page and in search results. It is the first visual impression customers have of your series. TV series artwork operates at two levels: season and episode. Each level has its own required types and specifications.

Required Artwork Specifications

For full details on artwork please visit our Artwork hub.

Trailer and Bonus Content

Trailers and bonus content help customers discover and engage with your TV series. You can deliver trailers at the series or season level and bonus features at the episode level. Each asset follows the same delivery and formatting standards as your primary playable assets.

Value-Added Material (VAM)

For full details on trailer and bonus content please visit Value-Added Material (VAM).

Know Before You Go

All publishing requirement categories are accounted for at every episode level.

Metadata is delivered at the series, season, and episode level.

Content IDs (SKUs) match exactly across EMA Avails, MEC, and MMC files.

Avails are submitted at the episode level, not the series or season level.

Title metadata is in the MEC file, not the EMA Avails file.

All required season and episode artwork is delivered and meets Prime Video specifications.

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