AWS launches channel assembly feature for AWS Elemental MediaTailor
March 12, 2021
Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched Channel Assembly for its content personalisation and monetisation service, AWS Elemental MediaTailor. The new feature lets broadcasters and OTT channel operators quickly and easily create virtual live channels, and optionally monetise the channels with dynamic server-side ad insertion. Users simply assign a list of pre-prepared programmes to a schedule, and the service delivers a playlist for a linear channel to audiences at scale, without having to re-transcode video content or create SCTE-35/104 infrastructure (Society of Cable and Telecommunications Engineers standards for digital program insertion).
Traditional methods of delivering pre-recorded content across multiple channels or for replay on a channel can be inefficient and cost-prohibitive, as content providers often have to pay multiple fees to transcode and process the same piece of content, but AWS Elemental MediaTailor Channel Assembly offers a simple solution. It provides a more streamlined way to leverage content already available in existing libraries, so that content providers using AWS Elemental MediaTailor can easily create specialist or niche live streaming services without unnecessary overhead.
Building a virtual channel in AWS Elemental MediaTailor with the new Channel Assembly feature is straightforward. Users log into the AWS Management Console, configure a user profile with permissions to create AWS Elemental MediaTailor resources, and assemble a live channel from HLS, DASH or CMAF packaged sources. The AWS Elemental MediaConvert file-based video encoding service can be used to transcode content from single file sources, including MP4, MOV, and MXF formats, into the HLS, DASH, or CMAF outputs that can be used as sources for AWS Elemental MediaTailor Channel Assembly programs.
AWS Elemental MediaPackage, Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), or any compliant origin can then be configured as the source location for content, and once a source location is defined, the user can create programs and assemble a schedule for the linear channel. Programmes can be scheduled in a relative loop with dynamic pre-, mid- and post- roll ad breaks defined.