Why do so many movies on Apple TV not have subtitles?

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Level 1

5 points

Why do so many movies on Apple TV not have subtitles?

I've recently started a digital library of my favourite movies on Apple TV (buying digital versions of all my DVDs). I'm beginning to think this was a mistake (vs doing this on Prime or Youtube).

So many movies don't seem to have subtitles available, which you would think would be a basic feature these days. And we're not talking obscure ones either (e.g., Gladiator, The King's Speech, Her, Arrival, Billy Elliott...etc). These have subtitles on Prime, so why not on Apple TV? Very disappointing.

Apple TV HD, tvOS 14

Posted on Oct 2, 2021 6:33 AM

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Answer 1

Urquhart1244

Level 10

146,256 points

Oct 2, 2021 7:44 AM in response to PrinceThePig

Change subtitles or languages for videos in the Apple TV app or iTunes Store - Apple Support

Subtitle availability through the iTunes Store is largely differentiated by country or region. E.g. for the US, and for these titles, the following captions or subtitles should be available:

Gladiator — Closed captions (en), subtitles (fr)

The King's Speech — Closed captions (en), subtitles (zh)

Her — Closed captions (en), subtitles (fr), subtitles (de)

Arrival — Closed captions (en), subtitles (es)

Billy Elliott — Closed captions (en)

You can view the available language support for a title before you decide to buy it.

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Answer 2

Urquhart1244

Level 10

146,256 points

Oct 2, 2021 8:29 AM in response to PrinceThePig

None here can speak for either company, nor know the conditions of the agreement with the supplying studios. Technically it is not an issue to include many subtitle tracks. But a reseller can’t change what a studio provided and supplied for distribution in any specific country or region.

For the UK iTunes Store:

Gladiator (2000) (extended) — 19 subtitles, including English

The King's Speech, Her, Arrival, Billy Elliott — no subtitles

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