How to scrape media and entertainment data from IMDb using the Minexa.ai extension
IMDb holds some of the most detailed publicly available entertainment data on the internet. Episode lists, air dates, ratings, cast details, and season breakdowns are all sitting right there on the page. The problem is that none of it is structured in a way you can actually work with.
If you have ever tried to copy episode data from IMDb into a spreadsheet manually, you already know how quickly that falls apart. This post walks through how to extract that data cleanly using the Minexa.ai Chrome extension, no code required.
The problem: IMDb data is visible but not usable
Entertainment analysts, content researchers, and production teams regularly need structured episode data: titles, air dates, episode numbers, viewer ratings, and more. IMDb has all of it. But the data lives inside a rendered page with no public API, and copying it row by row is not a realistic option when you need dozens of seasons or hundreds of titles.
The solution is to train a scraper once on the page structure, then let it extract the data automatically every time you need it.
Watch the full walkthrough first
The video below covers the entire extraction process from start to finish on the IMDb episodes page.
Step 1: Open the IMDb episodes page and launch the extension
Navigate to the IMDb title you want to extract. For this example, the starting URL is https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16390608/episodes/, which shows the full episode listing for a series. Once the page has loaded, open the Minexa.ai extension from your Chrome toolbar.
The extension popup opens and asks you to confirm you are on the right page. Click the confirmation button to proceed. Minexa.ai will begin analysing the page structure in the background.
Step 2: Pagination is detected automatically
One of the more time-consuming parts of scraping episode lists is handling pagination. IMDb episode pages are often split across multiple seasons or load additional content dynamically. Minexa.ai detects the pagination pattern on the page and presents it to you before you do anything else.
You review the detected pagination logic and click Continue. No configuration is needed on your end. The extension handles this step for you.
Step 3: Choose your scraping mode
After confirming pagination, the extension asks whether you want to scrape just the episode list, or the list plus the linked detail pages for each episode. For most entertainment data use cases, the list view already contains everything you need: title, episode number, air date, and rating.
Select the mode that fits your goal and move to the next step. If you need cast details or full episode summaries, the list-plus-detail option will follow links and extract data from each individual episode page as well.
Step 4: Select the data container
This is the core step. Rather than clicking on individual fields one by one, you hover over the section of the page that contains the full episode list and click once to select the entire container. Minexa.ai then automatically identifies every data point inside it.
Once you click Create Scraper, the extension processes the page structure. Within a couple of minutes, all columns are identified and named automatically. You do not write any selectors or define any schema.
What the extracted data looks like
Here is a sample of what Minexa.ai returns from the IMDb episodes page. Each row represents one episode, with fields extracted directly from the page structure.
[
{
"episode_title": "Pilot",
"episode_number": "S1.E1",
"air_date": "12 Jan 2023",
"rating": "8.2",
"episode_description": "The story begins as the main characters meet for the first time."
},
{
"episode_title": "The Return",
"episode_number": "S1.E2",
"air_date": "19 Jan 2023",
"rating": "8.5",
"episode_description": "Tensions rise after an unexpected visitor arrives at the estate."
}
]Every value is pulled directly from the DOM. Nothing is inferred or generated. If a field is absent on a given row, it returns null rather than a placeholder.
Step 5: Review the API request and complete setup
Clicking API Request in the top right shows ready-to-run Python and JSON code tied to your scraper. If you want to run this programmatically later, copy the code, update the URLs, and run it directly. For now, click Complete Configuration to finish the setup.
The summary screen shows your job configuration and gives you options to connect Google Sheets or set up a recurring schedule if you want the data refreshed automatically.
Step 6: Run the job and export your data
Your job appears at the top of the jobs list. Click Run to start extraction. Results appear in the table as rows are processed.
Once the job finishes, you can export the full dataset to Excel or JSON with one click. The scraper you trained is saved and can be reused on any structurally similar IMDb episodes page without repeating the setup.
If you want to start extracting entertainment data from IMDb today, install the Minexa.ai Chrome extension and follow the steps above. Your first dataset is ready in under ten minutes.
For more on scraping media and content data, see how to scrape news articles for media monitoring.
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