Hi there - I want my app to provide the user a list of top rated movies available in their region on their streaming services. (Netflix, Amazon, Apple etc..)
I can't post my query string her because for whatever reason it results in an error when it try to post this message but im basically specifying the watch_region as GB, the watch_provider as 2 and the watch_monetisation_types as free
EXPECTATION That it would return a list of movies streaming for free on Apple TV in the UK
RESULT Im getting movies available on Apple TV, but they are not necessarily free ON Apple TV... For example, 'Coraline' is showing up, but it's only streaming for free on ITVX
So the API's is saying "Yeah this movie is available on this network... and its also streaming for free... somewhere at least"
QUESTION Is there a way for the two parts of my query to stack? i.e, Condition 1 is that it's available on Apple TV, Condition 2 is that it's FREE on Apple TV?
Have i just structured my query wrong? Im relatively new to working with APIs and development in general
Any help much appreciated :)
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Reply by Travis Bell
on April 28, 2023 at 11:38 AM
Hi @monkeydodev,
There's a few issues I'll assume. First is the name of params, you want to use
with_watch_providers
andwith_watch_monetization_types
.For a full example, taker a look here: https://developer.themoviedb.org/reference/discover-movie?shareId=OYt8oGXTFiz13dTlQGIF
I used
with_watch_monetization_types=free|ads
on that query, since ad supported content is also usually "free".Reply by monkeydodev
on May 1, 2023 at 1:09 AM
Hi Travis,
Thanks for the help with this. I'm afraid its the same issues with your query.
Coraline for example is shown in the results, whereas it is not streaming on Apple TV in the uk (with or without ads). I can only rent or buy. The only service it streams on in the UK is ITVX https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/14836-coraline?language=en-GB
Reply by robbie3999
on May 1, 2023 at 5:31 PM
Hi @monkeydodev, I thought I might share a small trick to let you easily see what monetization types are available with what providers, since this can sometimes be a little confusing to figure out.
All the watch provider information on this site comes from the site https://justwatch.com. So, you can go to the justwatch site, select your country, select your provider, and then in the filters area, there is a filter called "Price -> Types". Each type listed corresponds exactly to the monetization types in the api. (4 have the exact same name, and Subscription=flatrate in the api)
So you can play with these options to see exactly what you would get for the different values. What I see here in the US is that Apple TV only has "buy" and "rent" options, there are no free or ad supported titles available. Apple TV+ however does have some "free" options, as well as Subscription (flatrate), since it is a subscription service.
I don't use Apple TV so I can't comment on whether what they return is correct, but if it is not, you would likely have to take up the issue with JustWatch.
Reply by Travis Bell
on May 1, 2023 at 6:46 PM
Aha, I knew this one sounded familiar.
Indeed, I have an open bug report for it here already. Right now you can't combine
with_watch_monetization_types
&with_watch_providers
. You'll have to pick one or the other to filter by until ticket 105 is complete.Reply by monkeydodev
on May 5, 2023 at 3:40 AM
@travisbell - Thanks for letting me know, ill work around this limitation in the meanwhile.
@robbie3999 - Thanks so much for the input. I wasn't even aware of this website. Im somewhat concerned that my app functionality is going to be dependant on the charity of a second API so i think i'll limit the integration to something i can easily remove later if they retract their service. Thanks for the tip on getting monetisation types.
Reply by monkeydodev
on April 17, 2024 at 12:19 PM
Hi @travisbell
My memory is atrocious. I was about to open a new ticket on this issue, thought to check the forums and see i opened this thread myself last year.
Are you please able to confirm if there is a resolution in sight for ticket 105? I see on trello it's got a fair few upvotes at this point. Perhaps in the top 5.
Just to explain my use-case for this... I want to give my users the ability to discover stuff, streaming in their region on services they subscribe to... So for example if they say they have 'Apple TV' then i'd want to present them everything in their region that is part of that subscription. I think this must be the intended and natural use-case for these fields being available in the first place.
The problem with these fields not being combined, is that if i make a call for stuff streaming on Apple TV (with_watch_monetization_types=flatrate & with_watch_providers=2) the user would receive...
A) all the stuff on Apple TV that ISNT part of their streaming subscription (i.e, stuff with the 'buy' monetisation type) B) all the stuff across every other streaming service offered under 'flatrate'... (i.e breaking bad)
So there's basically no value to that output... To be honest, i can't really see a use-case for either of the fields if they don't filter each other in the way described above.
Anyhoo, are you please able to confirm if there is an ETA for a fix on this bad boy? If a fix is unlikely then i can probably find a workaround (i.e, not specifying monetization_type but removing anything that doesn't come with a 'flatrate' submap from the results)... However that approach would increase the demand for API calls so would rather avoid if possible.
Kind regards Alex
Reply by Travis Bell
on April 17, 2024 at 12:30 PM
Hey @monkeydodev,
There are not currently any plans to get to it.
Reply by monkeydodev
on April 17, 2024 at 11:52 PM
No worries mate. Thanks for letting me know