Why can't you develop android TV apps for versions below android 5.0?

Android studio doesn't allow to develop android TV apps to versions below android 5.0 (API 21) is there a specific reason?

Is there any way of developing an android TV app for an android TV that has 4.42 kitkat in it? Or is there a way to change the developed app to an older sdks/api version?

I tried this, but it didn't work for me

<uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="14"
    android:targetSdkVersion="14"
    android:maxSdkVersion="23" />

Solution

As far as I know, there are no Android TV devices running versions earlier than 5. The manifest entries you specified would still be accepted though so it is still not clear exactly what it is that "does not work" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_TV.

I have an app in Play store now that targets Android 4 on phones but has a TV component also that works on Android TV.

Most likely your issue is the targetSDK. You are saying you want to compile your app with API14. You cannot do this and also support Android TV because all Android TV commands were introduced in API21