TV shows not available in US anymore on ATV4

[DarkHeraldMage]

Has anyone else noticed some of their TV shows (and less often, movies) are no longer showing artwork and now give errors like "this content is no longer available in the US store"? My fiance and I have two separate iTunes accounts and two new Apple TVs, and both of us noticed it on quite a few titles that we purchased previously. Some that we both have, and some only one of us have.

Titles like "Dr. Horrible", "Transformers Prime", "X-Men: Evolution (only season 4)", and so on. It's very frustrating because the content was all visible and playable on the previous generation ATV, and is fully accessible on all mobile devices and directly within iTunes. Why would the new ATV block purchased content like this?

 

[manatarms2032]

Several of my TV shows, most of which were purchased years ago but some are as recent as three weeks ago, show up in my Apple TV 4th Gen but are just place holders. When I try to watch them, an error is displayed stating that the content I'm trying to access is not available in the US store. This is extremely frustrating as the same content that is not accessible on the Apple TV 4th Gen is available on the 2nd and 3rd Gen Apple TV as well as my iOS devices and my iTunes library.

 

[commanderclif]

oddly, something that said it wasn't available, clicked it again a few minutes later and boom it worked. Still have some that don't.

 

[Jerm1868]

I found this problem when going through "my purchases." If I try to search and accesS the content, it acts as a previous purchase. This has to be a bug.

 

[DarkHeraldMage]

Agreed, I'm hoping it's just a bug. Some of the content legitimately isn't sold in the iTunes store anymore, but that still isn't a problem on any device except the ATV4 since it was already purchased. Some of them are still in iTunes, but possibly restructured or named differently. For instance, my fiance purchased "Transformers Prime" Season 1 when it first came out, but then they decided to split it into volumes instead (hate hate hate this trend). So technically, season 1 isn't available, but all the content still is.

I'm really wondering how a device that took so long to get out still has something like this in it that is blatant on day 1.

 

[philipk]

It is frustrating. I lost Downton Abbey Season 1,2 that was a single purchase in 2013. I have Seasons, 3, 4, and 5 that were purchased separately. Customer support said that Season 1,2 was pulled by request of the content provider. I said in return that they are still available separately and I mine should be replaced by the separate seasons. I am waiting for an answer.

I suspect that they had to re-encoding the streaming for the new fast forward and "What did he say" features to work. If you haven't tried them, they are AMAZING improvements.

 

[philipk]

I just went to my computer, Downton Abbey Seasons 1,2 is still available for download. So maybe, customer support is wrong and it's just a BUG. It wouldn't be the first time CS was wrong!

 

[DarkHeraldMage]

I just went to my computer, Downton Abbey Seasons 1,2 is still available for download. So maybe, customer support is wrong and it's just a BUG. It wouldn't be the first time CS was wrong!

It's got to be a bug for that exact reason. The content, even if pulled from the store, is still yours if you purchased it. All other devices still allow you to access them both in the cloud and by downloading, it's only the ATV4 devices that have this problem. I bought Downton Abbey all individually so I can't test that particular show like you did, but there are many others with this exact issue.

I'm hoping this thread will pick up steam and more people will see it and start contacting Apple to report it.

 

[mswansonpcs]

I'm having the same issue, shows purchased in the last year as well as shows purchased many years ago that are no longer available on the store, or have been packaged. All can still be viewed on Apple TV 3.

 

[Buckeye85]

I think there is an issue where TV shows that were purchased in bundles are not working on the new ATV...I have The Soprano's complete series from a blu-ray redeem code, and it worked fine on ATV3, but not the new one. I posted about it on the Apple support forums, and other people were having the same issue. I have other shows where the seasons were purchased separately, and they all work just fine

 

[DarkHeraldMage]

I think there is an issue where TV shows that were purchased in bundles are not working on the new ATV...I have The Soprano's complete series from a blu-ray redeem code, and it worked fine on ATV3, but not the new one. I posted about it on the Apple support forums, and other people were having the same issue. I have other shows where the seasons were purchased separately, and they all work just fine

Unfortunately this isn't the sole problem. Shows I've purchased individually are still not showing, like the old cartoon "Inspector Gadget". They didn't have a bundle, I bought all 4 seasons separately, and now none show available on the ATV4.

 

[DarkHeraldMage]

With the Apple TV update today the shows are now available to watch on ATV4 devices, but the artwork still shows blank like they did previously. So we're halfway to a fix, but not all the way there. For those who reported that they too had missing shows on ATV4 devices, can you check and advise if today's update at least partially fixed your issue?

Thanks everyone!

 

[Buckeye85]

With the Apple TV update today the shows are now available to watch on ATV4 devices, but the artwork still shows blank like they did previously. So we're halfway to a fix, but not all the way there. For those who reported that they too had missing shows on ATV4 devices, can you check and advise if today's update at least partially fixed your issue?

Thanks everyone!

My Sopranos series started working the other day, and has artwork as well. So that is completely fine. I also have The Departed movie that i bought, and that still doesn't have artwork, but it has played fine ever since the day i got the new ATV.