Avails troubleshooting

Error messages and Q&A

This article is currently only available in English, the translations will be available shortly. Thanks for your patience.

A few tips before you reach out to the support team.

Please make sure:

You are using the correct version: EMA Avail 1.7.2b template can be downloaded here
There are no hidden rows / columns / cells
There are no extra or incorrect values in the cells
The Header Names are not modified
- e.g) LicenseRightsDescription (correct), License Rights Description (incorrect)
If you download a copy of the standard EMA 1.7.2 Avail Template, you will notice that both Movie and TV templates will include the first 3 rows as Header Rows
- Row 1 = Top Level Element Row (Avail Trans, Avail Metadata…)
- Row 2 = Sub-Element Row (TitleInternalAlias, LicenseRightsDescription…)
- Row 3 = Required/Optional Row (//REQ, //Opt…)
- You must at least include Row 2 when submitting the avail; the other 2 Headers can remain in the avail or be deleted

If you still encounter validation errors after double checking the above, feel free to reach out to us at: playsupport-moviestv@google.com

Types of errors and how to troubleshoot them

Below you'll find solutions for each error message that you may see in your error report in the partner portal.

Unknown error has happened while uploading the spreadsheet

Please try cleaning the cache & history and then re-log in to the portal and try it from Chrome browser (Chrome, Firefox and Safari browsers are supported) or incognito mode.

After that, if you are still encountering the issue, please provide more details for better assistance

Is Chrome up to date?
Which web browser did you use and which version of that browser was it?
What steps did you try for this issue?

If none of these steps work, please contact playsupport-moviestv@google.com for further help troubleshooting.

The provided tier is not available in a contract. Please verify the tiers set up with Google by navigating to "Account Info' in your Partner Portal and selecting "VIEW PRICING TIERS". Please reach out to your operations contact if you have questions about this.

Error happens in

Movie: Pricetype (Column S)
TV: Pricetype (Column AJ)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure the inputted PriceType exists in your contract
Make sure the value is typed correctly.

Common mistakes

Typed “WSP” or “Category” instead of Tier
Tier listed in PriceValue field is not registered in the system

The price provided was not found in a contract. Please review pricing in your contract and reach out to your operations contact if a new pricing contract needs to be created.

Error happens in

Movie: PriceValue (Column T)
TV: PriceValue (Column AK)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure it is typed correctly.
If the value inputted is a Tier value, make sure it is one that is registered in the system.

Common mistakes

Invalid Tier value is provided
Adding currency symbol or additional text to correct tier value
Provided tier value does not exist in the system

The channel in the Any field was not found. Please make sure this channel corresponds to the correct territory and ensure the channel name is spelled correctly.

Error happens in

Movie: Any (Column AX)
TV: Any (Column BM)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Go to “Account info” on the Partner portal () and check your channels
Make sure the correct channel name is typed in the Any field.

Common mistakes

Channel or territory is incorrect
- e.g.) There are Channels that both GB and US share
Channel does not accept territory of avail
- e.g.) Channel is set up to support only US avails, but CA is included in the avail trying to use the US channel
Misspelled channel
Movies: Provided language is not listed as an acceptable language for that country
- e.g.) The provided AssetLanguage in the avail was "de" however, the Territory provided is for the "US," and the "US" channel only accepts "en" as the value
- In that case, you can just remove Assetlanguage and keep it as Blank
TV: AssetLanguage is always required for TV avails; the avail should be set up to fail if not included.
- If the avail passes, but no AssetLanguage was provided; the IDs will be appended incorrectly
- Incorrect Avail e.g.)
- AssetLanguage = "blank" | LocalizationType = dub | ALID = studio_provided_alid
  - studio_provided_alid_ASSET_LANGUAGE_UNSPECIFIED_DUBBED
- Correct Avail e.g.)
- AssetLanguage = "de" | LocalizationType = dub | ALID = studio_provided_alid
  - studio_provided_alid_de_DUBBED

Edit-Level ID is missing. Edit-Level IDs should be entered in either ProductID if using EIDR in EMA 1.6, EditID if using EIDR in EMA 1.7 or AltID

Error happens in

Movie: EditID (Column AA)
TV: Series/Season/Episode ID (Column R/S/T)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Provide correct EIDR in EditID column, or unique ID in AltID column (column AB)
- EIDRs begin with: 10.5240/
- Both Edit ID, Alt ID, are not required in the avail at the same time, but having at least one is

Common mistakes

Using a different version of EIDR (theatrical vs director’s cut)
EditID/AltID are both blank

LicenseType is invalid - For a complete list of supported values, please reference the LicenseType help center article

Error happens in

Movie: LicenseType (Column J)
TV: LicenseType (Column Z)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure you don’t use values other than “EST” “VOD” “POEST”or “AVOD”

“FVOD” soon to come as well

Common mistakes

Provide "Pre-order" instead of "POEST"
Providing POEST without a suppression lift date

Titles with the same Edit-Level ID (EIDR or Alt ID), Territory, and LocalizationType cannot have different title names.

Error happens in

Movie: TitleInternalAlias (Column F)
TV: Series/Season/Episode TitleInternalAlias (Column F/L/N)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure title name is identical within same ID

Common mistakes

Title is written differently in the same Column / different Row, where the Territory, LocalizationType, and EditID, are the same.

The EIDR ID provided is invalid. Please make sure the EIDR ID is properly formatted and registered at https://ui.eidr.org/search.

Error happens in

Movie: EditID (Column AA)
TV: Series/Season/Episode ID (Column R/S/T)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure you don’t put unique ID in this column, accepted value is EIDR
- EIDRs begin with: 10.5240/
- One of the following sets is required:
  - Both Title ID and Edit ID
  - Alt ID only
  - Title ID, Edit ID, and Alt ID

Common mistakes

Providing unique ID in this column instead of EIDR ID
Both EditID and AltID columns are left blank. Google requires at least one of the two.

The spreadsheet could not be parsed. Please make sure a standard Entertainment Merchant's Association (EMA) avail is provided. EMA avails can be found at movielabs.com/md/avails.

Error happens in

Movie: Column Headers
TV: Column Headers

How to fix

Make sure you use 1.7.2 EMA format (found in here)
Make sure headers are not broken
- Good: DisplayName
- Bad: Display Name(space between words)

Common mistakes

Headers are broken
- Please do not change any headers as it will cause a Avail validation error
Not using correct format. We are only supporting EMA 1.7.2b.
Deleted / Added Columns

LicenseRightsDescription is invalid. For a complete list of supported values, please reference [https://support.google.com/moviestvpartners/answer/6357370]

Error happens in

Movie: LicenseRightsDescription (Column K)
TV: LicenseRightsDescription (Column AA)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure you provide supported value

Common mistake

Incorrect spelling
- e.g.) NextdayTV instead of Next Day TV

Line items with the same Edit-Level ID (EIDR or Alt ID), Territory, and LocalizationType must have the same TitleInternalAlias. Different titles can be stored in TitleDisplayUnlimited for reference.

Error happens in

Movie: TitleInternalAlias (Column F)
TV: Series/Season/Episode TitleInternalAlias (Column F/L/N)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure line items using the same IDs, all have matching TitleInternalAlias
Different spelling and translation variations of the title can be added to the TitleDisplayUnlimited column

Common mistake

Using localized title in TitleInternalAlias instead of TitleDisplayUnlimited
- If the EditID or AltID is being used in multiple rows, each row using the same ID must use the same TitleInternalAlias.

Line items with the same Edit-Level ID (EIDR or Alt ID) and channel must have the same ServiceProvider. Please note that this field may default to a pre-selected ServiceProvider if left blank.

Error happens in

Movie: ServiceProvider (Column AZ)
TV: ServiceProvider (Column BO)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated.
Make sure that the same ServiceProvider (PPH) is indicated for titles that share the same IDs.

Common mistake

Incorrect ServiceProvider

Line items with the same TitleInternalAlias, Territory, and ALID must have the same Edit-Level IDs (EIDR or Alt ID).

Error happens in

Movie: EditID (Column AA) or AltID (Column AB)
TV: Series/Season/Episode ID (Column R/S/T) or Series/Season/Episode AltID (Column U/V/W)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure the same EditID or AltID is provided for line items with the same TitleInternalAlias, Territory, and ALID

Common mistake

Different Edit or Alt ID is provided in line items with the same TitleInternalAlias, Territory, and ALID

SD transaction cannot have higher partner price than HD transaction which has same license type and overlapping window

Error happens in

Movie: PriceValue (Column T) or Start/End (Column Q/R)
TV: PriceValue (Column AK) or Start/End (Column AG/AH)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure provided value corresponds to correct offer
1. If yes, please check there is no overlap start/end date
2. If no, please fix and try to validate again

Common mistakes

EST price tier/value is provided for VOD offer and vice versa
HD price tier/value is provided for SD offer and vice versa
Sometimes the error report doesn’t show where the exact error comes from. If report says the error happens in EST lines, please check VOD lines too

The timestamp format in the Start and/or End column is invalid. Supported format is YYYY-MM-DD.

Error happens in

Movie: Start/End (Column Q/R)
TV: Start/End (Column AG/AH)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Check all Date columns
- Check date format is one of below:

Date --- YYYY-MM-DD
ISO Date+Time -- YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
"Open" (for End Date)
"EST Start" (for Pre-order End Date)

Common mistakes

Format is other than YYYY-MM-DD
Putting incorrect value in SuppressionLiftDate

ALID is required but missing. ALIDs should be entered in either the ALID column or both the ALID and EditID columns if using an edit-level EIDR.

Error happens in

Movie: ALID (Column AI)
TV: ALID (Column X)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure ALID column is fulfilled

Common mistakes

ALID column is blank
Note that Google accepts the same ID as the Alt ID at this moment (more info here)
- e.g.) AltID = Google123, ALID = Google123

TitleInternalAlias is required and missing.

Error happens in

Movie: TitleInternalAlias (Column F)
TV: -

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure TitleInternalAlias column is fulfilled

Common mistake

Filled out “TitleDisplayUnlimited” instead of “TitleInternalAlias”

FormatProfile is required and missing. Supported values are HD, SD and 4K.

Error happens in

Movie: FormatProfile (Column K)
TV: FormatProfile (Column AB)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure supported values are provided (SD, HD and UHD)

Common mistakes

Using values other than HD, SD, and UHD (4K in EMA 1.6)
More info here

The language code is invalid. For a list of ISO 639-1 codes, please reference [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes]

Error happens in

Movie: AssetLanguage (Column B) or Holdback/Allowed language (Column BB/BC)
TV: AssetLanguage (Column B) or Holdback/Allowed language (Column BQ/BR)

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure you use the correct code

Common mistake

Putting “JP” instead of “JA” for Japanese language

The Start and/or End dates for this Preorder are invalid. Preorder avails must end before the EST window starts.

Error happens in

Movie: Start/End (Column Q/R)
TV: -

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Make sure if the End date of the Preorder line does not overlap the EST window dates
- The Pre-order End Date must be set to one of the below values:
  1. one day before EST Start Date
  2. one minute before EST Start Date (using ISO Date+Time)
  3. using “EST Start” as the value
- If no - please check if you use “YYYY-MM-DD” format

Common mistakes

Using same date for Preorder End date and EST Start date (not ISO Date+Time)
Providing different EST dates for SD and HD or different VOD dates for SD and HD
Not filling out this column for Preorder avails
- Avail fails if the Preorder offer has an End date value of “Open”when the submitted avail also includes an EST offer

The EIDR-1 (ContentID column in EMA 1.6 and TitleID column in EMA 1.7) provided is not a Level 1 Title EIDR in the EIDR registry. Please resubmit your avail with a Level 1 Title EIDR in the ContentID/TitleID column according to https://ui.eidr.org/search.

Error happens in

Movie: TitleID (Column Z)
TV: -

How to fix

Download the error report and go to the lines the error indicated
Go to https://ui.eidr.org/search and check the title
Make sure you provide correct EIDR

Common mistake

EIDR-2 (Edit ID) is used in this column instead of the EIDR-1 (Title ID)
- EIDR-1: ID that refers to the main Title (Parent) of the Movie
- EIDR-2: ID that refers to the cut/version (Child) of the parent Movie

Avail line items with the same Title and ID must have the same ServiceProvider.

Error happens in

Movie: Any (Column AX)
TV: Any (Column BN)

How to fix

Update all values of a single title in Any column to blank or a single channel name and resubmit the avails.