Google TV is missing the ability to buy some movies

Last year, Google TV lost the ability to purchase all television shows. In recent weeks, we’ve noticed that Google TV is no longer letting you buy certain movies.

In 2024, Google announced how “you will no longer be able to purchase TV episodes and seasons from Google TV on Google TV devices, Android TV devices, and the Google TV Mobile app.” Users are instead supposed to use the YouTube app on all platforms, with future TV show purchases no longer synced across both services. 

When these changes were made last year, Google said there would be no impact to movie purchases. 

In recent weeks, people have noticed that some movies in Google TV do not offer purchase options. (I personally encountered this over the holidays.) Instead, the mobile app and television experience only tells people where they can stream it. On television sets, you just get the “watch now” button, with “[x] ways to watch” not appearing.

This issue particularly affects older movies from Disney (Star Wars, Toy Story, etc.), with Google TV only showing Disney+ as the way to access a film. However, if you search for that title in the YouTube app, it can be purchased and rented.

Newer titles (like Inside Out 2) still show purchase options. We’re also seeing this problem with movies from other studios where the only way to access a film is from their streaming service (e.g., Max).

The vast majority of movies in Google TV today still show buy options alongside streaming options, but Disney is obviously a major player.

As such, this is more likely a catalog/directory bug rather than Google TV removing the ability to purchase films. Google TV offers a good movie-watching experience that is certainly more focused than YouTube. 

We’ll be reaching out to Google for more information.

Thanks Andrew