Coming Soon overview

Content will only go live on the Apple TV app once the availability window specified in the availability feed becomes current and active. However, if you have a new TV show or movie to promote in advance of it going live, use the Coming Soon offer type to make that content discoverable earlier in the related offer’s time window.

This feature is only available to Apple Subscription Video partners and requires a qualification process initiated by an Apple Video Business Representative.

To create a Coming Soon page on the Apple TV app, you must provide the following elements: 

• The new TV show or movie <item> record must exist in the catalog feed. The new TV show does not need any episodes or seasons associated with it for the Coming Soon feature.
• The <item> record should have all required metadata, including title, description, and rating.
• Artwork with the <item> record in the catalog feed (cover_artwork_horizontal, tile_artwork, centered_background, centered_background_small, and content_logo_polychromatic).
• At least one playable extra item, such as a preview, should be associated with the TV show or movie. This extra item will have its own catalog entry and a separate availability record. Learn more about how to set up and deliver previews and bonus content.

How to set up Coming Soon offers in your feeds

Most of the work to set up a Coming Soon page takes place in the catalog and availability feeds. The preview item is also dependent on the TV show or movie feed records. Keep in mind that this feature is only supported for a brand-new TV show or movie that is not yet live on the Apple TV app. 

Catalog feed setup

Currently, Coming Soon is only supported for tv_show and movie content types. Include an <item> record in the catalog feed for the new TV show or movie.

For a TV show, you do not need to include any tv_season or tv_episode records until seven days before the first episode is available.

In order to provide the best possible experience for the Coming Soon page, the new TV show or movie <item> record must have the following metadata:

• Title
• Description
  
• Rating
  
• Cast and crew
  
• Artwork (see Artwork Requirements for more information on specifications):
  
• 16:9 poster artwork (cover_artwork_horizontal)
• 2:3 poster artwork for movies only (cover_artwork_vertical)
• Tile/keyframe/banner artwork (tile_artwork)
• Backdrop wide (centered_background), backdrop tall (centered_background_small), and full color content logo (content_logo_polychromatic) is not required for Coming Soon but is required for any Apple TV app featured content

• Any regional metadata that is required to go live in a specific market. See Additional Subscription Video Partner Requirements for more information.

Here is an example of an <item> record for a new movie:

<item contentId=“MOVIE_1” contentType=“movie”>
        <pubDate>2020-05-01T18:00:12-07:00</pubDate>
        <title locale="en-US">Mountain High</title>
        <description locale="en-US">There's no higher place than Mountain High.</description>
        <genre>travel</genre>
        <rating systemCode="mpaa" value="R" />
        <credit role="actor" order="1">
            <name>Ted Green</name>
            <character imageUrl="https://www.acme.com/castInCharacter1234.jpg">
            <characterName>The Boss</characterName>
            </character>
        </credit>
        <artwork url="https://www.acme.com/imageassets/11/12/movie1112.jpg" type="cover_artwork_vertical" locales="en-US" />
        <artwork url="https://www.acme.com/imageassets/11/12/movie1113.jpg" type="centered_background" />
        <artwork url="https://www.acme.com/imageassets/11/12/movie1117.jpg" type="centered_background_small" />
        <artwork url="https://www.acme.com/imageassets/11/12/movie1119.jpg" type="content_logo_polychromatic" locales="en-US" />
        <artwork url="https://www.acme.com/imageassets/11/12/movie1114.jpg" type="cover_artwork_horizontal" locales="en-US"/>
        <artwork url="https://www.acme.com/imageassets/11/12/movie1112S1.jpg" type="tile_artwork" />
        <movieInfo>
            <type>feature</type>
            <duration>5460</duration>
            <studio>Platonic Studios</studio>
            <originalReleaseDate country="US">2021-03-08</originalReleaseDate>
            <version>standard</version> 
        </movieInfo>
 </item>

Availability feed setup

The Coming Soon feature is specified in the availability feed using <offeringType> with a coming_soon value in the <offers> block. You should apply this offer to the TV show or movie.

Currently, coming_soon is the only offering type that is accepted for content type tv_show.

Coming Soon offers are also required to have <windowStart> and <windowEnd> dates. The <windowStart> date reflects the date you want the content’s page to be visible on the Apple TV app. The <windowEnd> date of the Coming Soon offer is the date that will be displayed to customers on the content’s page. Extend the timestamp a few hours beyond the <windowStart> date for the movie or first episode of the TV show, as the availability for the movie or first episode will override the Coming Soon offer once the content is live.

The date displayed on the Apple TV app is based on UTC-08:00 (PST timezone), and is not based on the local market timezone. Enter the <windowEnd> date as sometime after midnight in UTC-08:00 so that the correct date displays.

Here is a sample availability record for the movie from the catalog example above:

<item contentType="movie" contentId="MOVIE_1" catalogId="com.catalog.acme" variantId="1">
        <pubDate>2020-05-01T18:00:12-07:00</pubDate>
        <offers>
            <offer>
               <offeringType>coming_soon</offeringType>
               <windowStart>2021-01-01T02:00:00+01:00</windowStart>
               <windowEnd>2021-03-08T05:00:00+01:00</windowEnd>
            </offer>
            <offer>
               <offeringType>subscription</offeringType>
               <windowStart>2021-03-08T01:00:00+01:00</windowStart>
                <windowEnd>2025-03-07T05:00:00+01:00</windowEnd>
            </offer>
        </offers>
</item>