Playout

Video: Broadcast Playout Cloud Transformation

Posted on by Russell Trafford-Jones

Playout has been gradually moving to the cloud for a number of years now. Famously Discovery moved all of their thematic playout to the cloud in 2018 and many have done the same since. As we saw the other day, Sky Italia are now seeing ‘code as infrastructure’ whereby automated API calls launch the in-cloud infrastructure they need as part of their linear playout.

In this video, we hear from Matt Westrup from A+E EMEA on how they’ve moved their playout to the cloud with their partner Amagi. Running 30 channels in Europe, Matt explains that due to some business uncertainty with a partner company, the need for a DR facility was identified. Talking to Srinivasan KA from Amagi, they were able to create this using Amagi’s product portfolio based in AWS. Matt explains that after the DR facility was set up, they moved quickly to full mirroring and ultimately they flipped the switch and they announced they were now broadcasting from the cloud.

Srinivasan KA explains that many companies take a similar route when working in the cloud. Sometimes a cost-effective DR facility is all they need, however it’s easy to replicate all your workflows in the cloud and have that on standby. This can be done by keeping the content in the cloud evergreen, running automation but keeping the playout functions switched off to save money which can be quickly brought online as needed. Srinivasan KA looks at the high-level diagram of the A+E operation showing how S3 holds the content, goes through a workflow to the CPU-powered playout and then is handed off using direct connect to affiliates and telcos using Amagi’s POPs.

Matt comments that this was relatively easy to do from a business perspective “No-one was investing massively in fixed infrastructure” and they’ve found they have been faster to market with a speed they’ve “never experienced before.” Needless to say, the move to the cloud also came into its own and provided a seamless move work home working during the pandemic. And, looking more longterm, A+E will continue to benefit from not having to manage the physical datacentre/serber room infrastructure.

The video finishe swith an overview of Broadcast in AWS from Andy Kane. He covers the main drivers for broadcasters moving to the cloud such as business agility, a preference with some companies for increasing Opex spending, increased ease in experiementing with new technologies/ways of engaging with customers, using a remote workforce among others. Andy covers an example broadcast flow using MediaConnect for contribution, MediaLive Statmux for distibution, redundancy strategies and other building blocks such as TAG multiviewers.

Watch now!
From the AWS Media Insights Webcast Series
Speakers

Andy Kane Andy Kane
Principal AI/ML Specialist Solutions Architect (Languages),
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Matt Westrup Matt Westrup
VP Technology and Operations,
A+E EMEA
Srinivasan KA Srinivasan KA
Co-founder,
Amagi Corporation
Ian McPherson Ian McPherson
Partner Development Lead – Media & Entertainment,
Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Webinar: Unlocking global success for channel operators and broadcasters

Posted on by Russell Trafford-Jones

Date: Tuesday 4th December, 2018. 16:00 GMT

Join IBC365 and Tata Communications to explore how organisations are using cloud playout to deploy a unified solution for both playout and distribution on a global basis, and why cloud is fast becoming the preferred option for many linear channel operators and broadcasters.

Cloud playout offers the potential for rapid channel launches, more efficient and resilient operations and a clear commercial model enabling linear channels to be more successful and profitable.

In this Webinar:

  • Explore cloud success stories, like Woohoo TV, Latin America’s first dedicated channel for sports, music and youth culture. It expanded rapidly into new markets in the U.S. without needing capital investment by deploying Tata Communications’ Cloud Master Control and Video Connect solutions.
  • Learn how Cloud Master Control delivers a future-ready virtualised IP environment powered by industry-leading technology vendors, enabling channel operators to scale rapidly from a single channel to a large-scale multi-channel operation, with complete flexibility and reliability.
  • Understand the business, technology and operational benefits and the crucial questions to ask before moving your channel playout operation to a cloud playout provider.

Register now!

Speakers

Jeremy Dujardin Jeremy Dujardin
CTO Media Services,
Tata Communications
Dhaval Ponda Dhaval Ponda
Global Sales Head Media Services,
Tata Communications

Video:Moving Master Control and Asset Management to the Cloud

Posted on by Russell Trafford-Jones

Starting with a look at how playout has evolved to what it is today, Wesley Thiesson from Evertz Microsystems explains how Master Control and OTT MAM workflows can be improved by the cloud. He then finishes by a look at how far we can push MAM into the cloud, now and in the future.

Talking to SMPTE’s Philadelphia Section, Mr. Thiessen, Senior Solutions Architect, covers the following:

Part 1: Linear Master Control playout from the cloud. A brief history of the evolution of Master Control that makes moving to the cloud feasible. A review of the effects, requirements, possibilities and planning required to make this a reality, reviewing the use case of a facility running dozens of channels 24/7 from the cloud, with live events, time delay and rebroadcast.

Part 2: Feeding the machine. An overview of master control and OTT media prep (MAM) workflows enhanced and enabled in the cloud. Optimizing workflows to deliver your S3, D4 and other OTT content. In today’s OTT world every platform wants a different touch applied to the encoding, the packaging, and the metadata. Using the work completed for linear to drive packaging and ad insertion, along with metadata standardization and transformation, minimizes the effort to deliver multiple formats to multiple destinations.

Part 3: Full Tilt MAM. Bring MAM to your production suite. An overview of some challenges in production and solutions and tools in Cloud based MAM to ease the load. Enrich your production workflow with smart application of artificial intelligence tools, a look at the future that is already here.

Watch Now

Mr. Thiessen is a graduate of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Broadcast Electronics program. When he started in live and post production with Umatic for offline, DVE’s that took ½ rack per channel and could heat your home, digital video was transmitted in parallel, archives had paper logs and reels on a shelf and telecines had flying spots.

He worked in archive management with Masstech for ten years, managing LTO (and other) libraries, before moving to product management with an encoding/ transcoding/ streaming video company. Five years ago, he joined Evertz. Wesley managed a Joint Master Control installation that encompassed everything from the Master Clock and IRDs to the ATSC encoder and all the SDI devices and file based workflows in between.

Most recently Wesley has been involved on the Solutions Architect team at Evertz with the first 24/7 multichannel broadcast master control project now playing all of Discovery Networks’ USA content from the Cloud, as well as major installations of Media Asset Management for international and domestic content delivery for broadcast and OTT delivery, streamlining automated delivery of more than 10,000 assets per month in nearly 100 formats and packages.

Watch now

On Demand Webinar: Project On Ramp: Migrating Discovery’s Media Supply Chain to the Cloud

Posted on by Russell Trafford-Jones


Over the last few years, the emergence of new technology and the sheer volumes of new programming content to be processed and delivered had presented many challenges for Discovery Communications. To address these, Discovery decided to re-evaluate and re-design their media supply chain, choosing a cloud-based model, enabled by companies such as Amazon Web Services and SDVI. This webinar presents how Discovery designed and deployed their virtualized media supply chain, with insights into the challenges they faced, how they selected their partners, and the significant cost and operations benefits that they are now achieving.

With Speakers Josh Derby, Vice President, Technology and Development & Strategy, Discovery Communications
Bhavik Vyas, Global Alliances & Segment Leader – Media and Entertainment, AWS
Brian Pelletier, Products & Solutions, SDVI

Watch now!