What has to move
- Video: original files where available, re-encoded on the new platform
- Metadata: titles, descriptions, cast, genres, series and season structure
- Assets: artwork, trailers, subtitles and audio tracks
- Commerce: plans, prices, coupons and purchase history
- Subscribers: accounts, entitlements and, where possible, watch history
- Billing: the stored payment tokens that let renewals continue
How a migration runs
- Audit the catalog and the subscriber base on the old platform
- Export and import content and metadata, then check a sample title by title
- Import members and map each to the right plan
- Plan the billing switch so that renewals carry on without re-entering cards
- Run both platforms in parallel for a short period, then switch domains and apps
- Tell subscribers what is changing and how to sign in
The risks to plan for
Losing subscribers is the main one. If payment tokens cannot be transferred, every subscriber has to re-enter a card and some will not. Ask both the old and new payment providers about token migration early, and time the switch away from a major release.
Sign-in is the second. Passwords are usually stored in a form that cannot be exported, so plan a first sign-in by email link or a password reset. Subscriptions bought through app stores stay with the store and need the new app to recognize them.
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