Do movies purchased in iTunes expire?

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Level 1

5 points

Do movies purchased in iTunes expire?

I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue, and whether I should stop purchasing movies through iTunes. have three Apple TVs, two 3rd gen and one 4th. I am gradually building a library of movies and am now beginning to experience issues. Three years ago, I purchased L.A Confidential in the iTunes store. Last weekend I tried watching it on my 4th gen Apple TV and it played back with static. This is the only title in my library with this issue, and it also occurs on the 3rd gen boxes. The software is up to date and L.A. Confidential does play on my other devices without issue. Although I could use Airplay, I am not enthused about a title purchased in iTunes that will not play properly on an Apple product designed with the specific purpose of playing the type of content in question.

After a week of phone calls with tech support, I have only so far been told that the version of the movie is too old. I am still waiting on another answer, but I am beginning to suspect the final recommendation and answer will be to simply use Airplay. Again, I do not want to tie up another device to play content purchased specifically to be retrievable and playable through Apple TV. Has anyone else had this issue? Is there another fix?

Apple TV (4th generation), iOS 9.3.5

Posted on Sep 4, 2016 4:38 PM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

274,240 points

Sep 4, 2016 4:51 PM in response to jfold

Content purchased from the iTunes Store should remain available to your as long as you either keep a local copy, or the rights holders maintain a copy in the store. Disney, for example, have a habit of removing content from time to time. It is, perhaps, possible that the version of the movie that Apple make available for streaming isn't optimised for Apple TV 4, or there could, I suppose, be corruption at Apple's end. Try playing it again at different times of day when network congestion might be different, or you might be streaming from a different server, to see if the problem persists.

tt2

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Answer 2

jfold Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 4, 2016 5:09 PM in response to turingtest2

Thank you for your response; the version of the movie does seem to have changed, which is what Apple has said so far. So far it does not seem as though Apple will update the version I purchased. I have tried playing it several times without luck on both 3rd and 4th gen boxes. It does play fine on my computer and on my iPad, but again, if I purchase in iTunes, the content should be directly supported by Apple TV, otherwise, in my opinion, I see zero reason to purchase a movie in iTunes. While it is nice to be able to watch movies on other devices, I see that as a secondary benefit of movies purchased through Apple. The primary would be easy retrieval and display on my TV. I am now concerned Apple will altogether stop supporting movies and content I have purchased on all devices in favor of newly encoded versions of the same exact content.

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

274,240 points

Sep 4, 2016 5:47 PM in response to jfold

Take a look at Get help playing or streaming content on your Apple TV - Apple Support in case any of the suggestions there might improve the results with this movie.

tt2

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Answer 4

jfold Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 4, 2016 5:58 PM in response to turingtest2

Thank you but my software is up to date and I have tried all of the suggestions indicated in the list. The issue seems to be the encoding of the specific movie, which is no longer directly compatible with Apple TV. To my knowledge, there is no way to update the movie without purchasing it a second time and having two separate versions of the same movie in my library.

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

274,240 points

Sep 4, 2016 6:17 PM in response to jfold

Does the movie show as purchased in the store for you, or with a price? If it shows as purchased then you have the current version. In fact if it shows up on Apple TV via the Movies app then you must have the current version. If there is a copy on your computer does it play better if you access your library via the Computers app instead of streaming it from the store? Did you try forcing SD resolution in case that fixed or reduced the issue? BTW you didn't mention if this is audio or video static you experience?

tt2

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Answer 6

jkbray

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2016 2:32 PM in response to jfold

I have just noticed over the past week that my copy of L.A. Confidential on Apple TV no longer plays without flaws. When the movie starts there is high frequency beeps and then cyclical heavy static ... you can't hear the sound track. I have a library of over 250 films on iTunes and this is the only movie that this issue exists. Have no clue how to correct this ... can't just delete copy on the Apple TV listing and reload it ...

It seems that I am not the lone one experiencing this with this particular movie.

Anyone have ideas how to fix this?

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Answer 7

vazandrew

Level 8

40,468 points

Nov 24, 2016 3:41 PM in response to jkbray

This is a different issue, I suggest you start a new thread

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