Apple TV Delivery: Rights & Pricing CSV vs the `.itmsp` Metadata Package

Apple’s transactional movies side ships two distinct templates to content partners, and most distributors collapse them in their heads as “the Apple template.” They are not interchangeable. One is a flat 31-column CSV for bulk-updating rights, pricing, ratings, and release dates on titles that already exist in Apple’s catalog. The other is a full XML metadata package, delivered as a .itmsp directory, that is the only way to create a new title in the first place.

This piece walks through both, side by side: what is in each, when to use which, what gets you rejected, and how the two templates relate to each other in the broader Apple delivery flow.

The two templates at a glance

	Rights & Pricing CSV	`.itmsp` Metadata Package
Format	Flat CSV, 31 columns, one row per `Vendor ID × Territory`	Directory containing `metadata.xml` (Relax NG schema, namespace `http://apple.com/itunes/importer`) plus all referenced asset files
Source	tvpartners.apple.com/assets/movies-rights-pricing-template.zip	help.apple.com/itc/filmspec/ (current); historical PDF mirror
Upload via	”My Movies” in iTunes Connect / Apple TV Partner Connect	Transporter (Java CLI: `iTMSTransporter -m upload -f <vendor_id>.itmsp`)
Used for	Adding territories, changing prices, updating release dates, fixing rating codes on existing titles	First-time delivery; metadata edits; asset replacement
Can it create a new title?	No	Yes
Date format	`M/D/YYYY` (US)	ISO `YYYY-MM-DD`
Booleans	`yes` or blank	`true` or `false`
`WW` (worldwide) allowed?	No — every territory is its own row	Yes for trailers and posters; no for `<products>`
Last revision	2024-02-16	Continuous (current spec versions in the 5.x range; bones unchanged since 4.3 in 2010)

Template 1 — Rights & Pricing CSV (the avails channel)

The CSV is Apple’s bulk-update mechanism. You download movies-rights-pricing-template.csv, fill rows for the titles and territories you want to change, and upload the result. Blanks mean “no change” — it is a partial-update channel, not a full-state file.

The 31 columns

Vendor ID, Territory,
Cleared for Sale (EST), Sales Start Date, Sales End Date,
Allow Pre-order, Pre-order Start Date,
Enable EST HD, HD Tier, SD Tier, EST Price Effective Date, EST Price End Date,
Cleared for VOD, Available for VOD, Unavailable for VOD,
Enable VOD HD, VOD Type, VOD Effective Date, VOD End Date,
Rating System, Rating Code, Rating Reason,
Additional Rating System, Additional Rating Code, Additional Rating Reason,
Content Advisory,
Physical Release Date, HD Physical Release Date, 4K Availability Date,
Suppression Lift Date, 3D Availability Date

A few groupings make this easier to read:

Identity — Vendor ID, Territory. The Vendor ID is permanent and was assigned when the title first went live. Territory is a country name in this CSV (India, United States), not an ISO code — a notable inconsistency with the XML side, which uses ISO 3166 alpha-2.
EST (Electronic Sell-Through) — the purchase channel. Cleared for Sale (EST), Sales Start Date, Sales End Date, Allow Pre-order, Pre-order Start Date, Enable EST HD, HD Tier, SD Tier, EST Price Effective Date, EST Price End Date. HD Tier and SD Tier are integers referencing Apple’s contractually negotiated price tiers — not free-form prices.
VOD — Apple’s name for rental. Cleared for VOD, Available for VOD, Unavailable for VOD, Enable VOD HD, VOD Type (e.g. New Release, Library), VOD Effective Date, VOD End Date.
Ratings — primary system + code + reason, then a second optional system. For the controlled vocabulary of valid Rating System / Rating Code pairs by territory, see Apple’s Transactional Film Rating Codes PDF (Rev. 27 March 2026). Wrong code = full row rejection.
Release dates — Physical, HD physical, 4K, 3D, plus a Suppression Lift Date for the rare case where a title was suppressed and is being re-enabled.

Sample row

123456789,India,yes,3/6/2023,4/1/2023,yes,2/1/2023,yes,101,5,,,yes,3/1/2023,3/3/2023,yes,New Release,,,In,A,,,,,"AC,C",3/1/2023,3/1/2023,3/1/2023,,6/5/2023

This says: Vendor ID 123456789 in India is cleared for EST sale starting March 6 2023 (with pre-orders open February 1), at HD tier 101 / SD tier 5; cleared for rental as a New Release with a windowed availability March 1 to March 3 2023; rated In/A (India CBFC, Adult); content advisories alcohol use and crude language; physical release dates set; 3D availability later in June.

Format quirks that bite you

Date format is US M/D/YYYY. The XML side is ISO YYYY-MM-DD. Same delivery, two date formats.
Multi-value cells must be quoted. "AC,C" for content advisory; without quotes the row splits.
Apple uses country names in the Territory column, not ISO codes. Spelled like United States, United Kingdom, Korea, Republic of. Mismatch the spelling and the row fails.
You cannot create a Vendor ID with this file. The CSV only updates titles that are already live.

Template 2 — `.itmsp` Metadata Package (the first-delivery channel)

This is the format Apple wants for creating a movie title in the first place. A .itmsp is just a directory whose name ends in .itmsp, containing one metadata.xml file plus all the assets it references — masters, posters, captions, trailers. Apple ships a Java CLI called Transporter to validate and upload it.

The schema declaration

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<package xmlns="http://apple.com/itunes/importer" version="film4.3">

The version string follows film<major>.<minor>. Current Apple spec is several minor versions ahead of film4.3, but the namespace, the root element, and the document structure documented below are the same in every version since 2010 — Apple has only added fields (4K UHD price tiers, HDR, Dolby Atmos audio assets, new rating systems), it has never restructured the schema.

Package directory layout

09736156444.itmsp/
  metadata.xml
  09736156444.mov                 ← full feature master
  09736156444-preview.mov         ← trailer
  09736156444.jpg                 ← poster (world default)
  09736156444-en-US.jpg           ← territory-specific poster (optional)
  09736156444-english.scc         ← EIA-608 closed captions
  09736156444-english.itt         ← timed-text subtitles
  09736156444-french.itt          ← additional language subtitles

Two hard rules: the directory name must equal <vendor_id> in the XML, and every asset referenced in the XML must be present at the named filename, with a matching MD5 checksum.

The XML structure

<package xmlns="http://apple.com/itunes/importer" version="film4.3">
  <provider>Paramount</provider>
  <video>
    <type>film</type>
    <vendor_id>09736156444</vendor_id>
    <title>Forrest Gump</title>
    <synopsis>…</synopsis>
    <production_company>Paramount Pictures</production_company>

    <rating system="mpaa" code="PG-13">
      <reason>thematic elements, drug use, language</reason>
    </rating>

    <chaptering>…</chaptering>
    <assets>…</assets>          <!-- video master, captions -->
    <previews>…</previews>      <!-- trailers per territory -->
    <artwork>…</artwork>        <!-- posters per territory -->
    <products>…</products>      <!-- per-territory rights and pricing -->
  </video>
</package>

The <products> block is the part the Rights & Pricing CSV mirrors:

<products>
  <product>
    <territory>US</territory>                        <!-- ISO 3166 alpha-2 -->
    <cleared_for_sale>true</cleared_for_sale>
    <cleared_for_hd_sale>true</cleared_for_hd_sale>
    <wholesale_price_tier>3</wholesale_price_tier>
    <preorder_sales_start_date>2006-02-10</preorder_sales_start_date>
    <sales_start_date>2006-03-12</sales_start_date>
    <cleared_for_vod>true</cleared_for_vod>
    <vod_type>New Release</vod_type>
    <available_for_vod_date>2007-11-12</available_for_vod_date>
    <unavailable_for_vod_date>2008-11-12</unavailable_for_vod_date>
    <physical_release_date>2007-08-01</physical_release_date>
  </product>
</products>

The Transporter flow

# Download Apple's current Relax NG schema
iTMSTransporter -m provideSchema

# Validate locally — checks schema, MD5s, file sizes
iTMSTransporter -m verifyPackage -f 09736156444.itmsp

# Upload to Apple
iTMSTransporter -m upload -f 09736156444.itmsp -u <user> -p <pass>

# Check status of an in-flight upload
iTMSTransporter -m status -vendor_id 09736156444

verifyPackage runs a strict superset of what Apple does on receipt: schema validation, MD5 verification of every asset, file-size check, and a sanity pass on dates and references. Most rejected uploads can be caught locally first.

When to use which

The decision matrix:

You need to…	Use
Deliver a brand new title	`.itmsp` package
Add a new territory to an existing title	Either — CSV is faster
Change a price tier in one territory	CSV
Replace the master video file	`.itmsp` (asset-only delivery is supported)
Fix a rating code	CSV
Update synopsis, cast, or runtime	`.itmsp`
Bulk-extend `Sales Start Date` across 50 territories	CSV (one row per territory)
Push a single global change across all territories	`.itmsp` (with `<products>` for every territory listed)
Add 4K availability with a new tier	CSV (`4K Availability Date`, `HD Tier`)
Pull a title down for a window	CSV (`Suppression Lift Date`)

A practical rule of thumb: if the change is only in the columns of the Rights & Pricing CSV, use the CSV. If you are touching anything else — a synopsis, a poster, a caption file, a chapter title, an asset of any kind — you are on the .itmsp side.

How the two relate inside Apple

Apple’s internal data model is the XML metadata package. The CSV is a write-through update channel for a thin slice of that model: specifically, the <products> block plus a couple of fields from the <rating> and physical-release blocks. When you upload a .itmsp, Apple persists the full XML. When you upload a Rights & Pricing CSV, Apple maps each row’s columns into the corresponding fields on the existing <products> block for that Vendor ID and territory.

This is why blanks in the CSV mean “no change”: Apple is patching the existing record, not replacing it. And it is why the CSV cannot create titles: there is no Vendor ID on the Apple side to patch into.

What this means for OpenRights users

Most distributors use neither file directly. They keep their catalog in a generic source-of-truth spreadsheet (territories, windows, exclusivity, contracted rate cards) and emit either Apple format on demand:

For a new title, the spreadsheet feeds an internal templating step that produces the .itmsp directory plus its metadata.xml. Aggregators like Premiere Digital, Deluxe, and BitMax do this automatically; in-house teams script it.
For ongoing rights and pricing changes, the same spreadsheet feeds a different transform that emits Apple’s 31-column CSV.

OpenRights publishes both templates (Rights & Pricing CSV and .itmsp Metadata Template) plus the generic-to-per-platform converter. The recommended pattern: keep one generic catalog file, derive both Apple deliverables from it, and never edit the per-platform sheets by hand.

Sources

Apple TV and Movies Partner Support — Guides — the index of every spec Apple publishes for movie partners
Apple Transactional Film Specification — the current metadata.xml schema reference
iTunes Package Film Specification 4.3 (PDF mirror) — historical reference; bones identical to current
Manage transactional movie content — the official walkthrough of the Rights & Pricing CSV upload flow
Schema Validation Guide — how iTMSTransporter -m provideSchema and -m verifyPackage work
Transporter User Guide — full CLI reference
Movies Rights & Pricing template (ZIP, official) — the source of the 31-column CSV
Transactional Film Rating Codes (ZIP, official) — controlled vocabulary by territory