
One of the largest high-profile deployments of the cloud in a broadcast environment is Fox Sports 1's use of a cloud video production platform developed by Aframe.
SAN FRANCISCO At its simplest, cloud technology is seen as a straightforward means to a wondrous end place media up into the Ethernet, and then with a few clicks, see it pulled down by someone else half-way around the world.
The reality is much more complicated, of course. The cloud craze that made headlines in 2013 was overshadowed by a long list of concerns: Copyright fears, format struggles, redundancy and security woes.
Looking at those big events over the last 12 months that relied on cloud technologies, it's clear the industry is still struggling with issues like architectural limitations and workflow bottlenecks.
There's still a perception in the industry because of these failures, that maybe online streaming is still a risk, that there's still too much drama. Will it work or will it not? said Kurt Michel, director of product marketing for Media Solutions at Akamai. We need to make sure people understand that [this technology] is robust, he said.
ASKING QUESTIONS
The first place to start is by asking questions. How robust is the solution? What is the strategy for redundancy? How do you make sure that this is going to meet 100 percent of my availability requirements?
The recently wrapped 2014 NAB Show tried to answer some of those questions, sprinkling cloud-focused sessions and speakers across the convention and showing ways that broadcasters can begin to rely on the cloud.
Cloud services have enabled media and entertainment companies to tackle distribution challenges and the complexities of offering consumers content anytime, anywhere and on any device, said Mark Ramberg, general manager of Media and Entertainment for Amazon Web Services, who offered the keynote address at the convention's two-day Media Management in the Cloud conference.
Expanding beyond the original business-to- consumer scenarios that first lit up the cloud, the technology is maturing to a point where it has begun to be leveraged for professional media workflows in both broadcast and post productions.
If you combed the NAB Show floor, it seemed that every other booth was touting a cloud-this-and-cloud-that. But in discussions with experts and manufacturers, the technology is beginning to show a maturity that is capable of handling large-scale content like 3D, HD and 4K, as well as more complex scenarios like second-screen distribution and complex content personalization.
Media industry companies are realizing that they can't keep up with the IT needs [required to handle some of these next-generation offerings], and are looking at the scalability and elasticity of the cloud, Ramberg said.
There are certainly benefits: scalable bandwidth, open storage opportunities and transcoding solutions, to name a few.
In response, the real-world examples continue to expand. One of the largest is the high-profile cloud solution being used by Fox Sports 1, a cable channel launched by Fox Sports in the summer of 2013 that includes football, baseball, NASCAR and soccer programming. To handle a number of basic workflow issues dozens and dozens of freelance stringers submitting hundreds of video files in a range of disparate formats the network created a news media submission system that allows contributing videographers to upload content to a cloud video production platform developed by Aframe, a U.K.-based developer of cloud technology for media enterprises.
Broadcast workflows today still contain steps where manual intervention, such as transcoding, is essential, [but] in competitive TV formats like sport, that simply can't exist any longer, said David Peto, CEO of Aframe.
The Aframe platform is being used to automatically transcode formats at the time of ingest, and then converts media to a DVCPRO format for editing or playout. An H.264 proxy viewing copy is created that can be viewed by stringers or editors in the field.
[It] provides an easy mechanism for making content easily accessible for people who need it immediately, in a self-service model, said Wendy Allen, vice president of media engineering at Fox Sports. It's a new paradigm shift that will save Fox time and money.
The approach makes it feasible to use a global set of freelancers, many of whom are contributing media files with different professional equipment. The solution also allows the network to save bandwidth because a proxy is created at the time of ingest, instead of requiring all material to be downloaded prior to transcoding. At the NAB Show, the company released Aframe 3.0 and announced partnerships with Sony and Panasonic to integrate cloud capabilities directly into new wireless cameras and adapters, allowing for a completely wireless workflow.
IS THIS THE YEAR?
Companies like Signiant are pointing to cloud technologies as a key reason for its recent success: an uptick in customers is directly attributable to the adoption of Signiant's hybrid SaaS solution, said Margaret Craig, CEO of Signiant.
Cloud technologies have taken off for a number of reasons, she said, including improvements in storage, advancements in speed and upgrades in security. Companies are also leaning toward the cloud's track record on redundancy issues. That's one of the things that the cloud is good at: allowing you to keep multiple files and keep them safely, she said.
This is really the year that [cloud adoption] becomes very real, Craig added, whose company has seen adoption of cloud technologies all around the world, most vociferously in the United States. The company recently introduced the new software application CloudSpeX, which validates media file formats prior to transfer, and introduced file sharing capabilities to the compan
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Suitest's Test Automation Platform Simplifies Video Quality Assurance, Monitoring, and Device Certification Across the OTT Ecosystem
At IBC2026, Suitest, a...
13/08/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, will have its key software solutions ready to demonstrate at SET Expo 2026 (18 20...
13/08/2026
Scripps Research has established the Peter K. Vogt Endowed Chair, a new faculty ...
13/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-A vaccine's molecular structure plays a key role in determining how the immune system responds and prepares to protect the body from future exp...
12/08/2026
Traditional live sports production has focused on creating the best possible pro...
12/08/2026
FOR-A will showcase a range of broadcast and production products at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B53, Amsterdam RAI, September 11-14), including software-based switching, A...
12/08/2026
The Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and EBU will host live demonstrations of NMOS BCP-008 Minimum Status Reporting at IBC2026 (September 11-14) on th...
12/08/2026
Dalet has announced Dalet Solution Suites, a portfolio of cloud-native solutions...
12/08/2026
Net Insight has announced that DMC Production Norway has selected its Open Live ...
12/08/2026
Zixi has appointed Alyson Stewart as Senior Director of Sales. Stewart will be responsible for direct sales and partnerships, with a focus on broadcasters, medi...
12/08/2026
LiveU's LU900Q intelligent production unit was deployed as part of the host broadcast operation for the Games in Glasgow (July 23-August 2, 2026). Host broa...
12/08/2026
Disney , ESPN, and Formula E have announced a multi-year deal bringing all Formula E races to Disney and ESPN in the U.S. and to Disney in most international...
12/08/2026
PSSI has launched X-LIVE, a managed service offering dedicated engineering resources and Appear encoding infrastructure for live event signal processing and tra...
12/08/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League Summer Season reached 18.3 million unique live viewers across three stops on ABC and ESPN, a 78.5% increase compared to the...
12/08/2026
BBright will showcase an expanded IP-Gateway at IBC2026, adding support for all RIST profiles to its existing support for MPEG Transport Stream over IP with SMP...
12/08/2026
BBright will demonstrate EBU OGraf animated graphics support in its software-bas...
12/08/2026
Interra Systems will demonstrate its ORION, BATON, BATON Captions, and VEGA solutions at SET Expo 2026 (August 17-20, Distrito Anhembi, S o Paulo) at partner Li...
12/08/2026
DPA Microphones has appointed Raul Contreras as West Coast Regional Sales Manager. In the role, Contreras will oversee sales and customer relationships througho...
12/08/2026
Live spectacles ranging from the Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup to the Oscars and...
12/08/2026
Writer-Director Andrius Bla evi ius and crew attend the premiere of How to Divorce During the War at The Ray Theatre on January 26, 2026, in Park City, UT. (P...
12/08/2026
Enhanced DAW & plug-in control for the UC1, UF8 and UF1
The software that powers SSL's range of control surfaces has just received a major update that d...
12/08/2026
In-line preamp features one-knob EQ
In addition to their range of in-line preamps, Triton Audio recently managed to squeeze a compressor into an enclosure t...
12/08/2026
Captures system audio with or without a DAW
Depending on your setup, capturing system audio in a DAW can be a tedious process, so much so that Arvital Audio...
12/08/2026
2026 NATIONAL NAIDOC AWARDS TO BROADCAST ON NITV LIVE AND DIRECT FROM MPARNTWE
12 August, 2026
Media releases
First Nations excellence will be celebrated l...
12/08/2026
More than six million sports fans stay with SBS for Tour de France and Tour de F...
12/08/2026
Nielsen is cementing Digital Ad Intel as the new go-to currency for digital ad intelligence in Brazil-now with streaming monitoring in the mix.
S o Paulo, Augu...
12/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/08/2026
As Matrox Video celebrates 50 years of trusted innovation, the company will showcase its portfolio of interoperable IP technologies and software-defined innovat...
12/08/2026
SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced a program of expert-led sessions, professional workshops and networking eve...
12/08/2026
Berklee Announces Full Details for Inaugural Block Party, a Music Festival Next ...
12/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/08/2026
Matthews Studio Equipment introduces T-Go Mounting Solutions extreme camera rigging systems, engineered for the most demanding environments in motion picture pr...
12/08/2026
Anton/Bauer, a Videndum brand and the industry leader in mobile power solutions for broadcast and cinematic production, announces that the EDEN Mobile Power Sta...
12/08/2026
TAG Video Systems, the global leader in software-based IP monitoring and multiviewer solutions, today announced a memory usage optimization that lowers the tota...
12/08/2026
Unified Streaming announces Trusted Media, a new solution that enables broadcasters, streaming platforms, and premium content owners to attach verifiable authen...
12/08/2026
Combining intelligent automation, composable business services and user-centric experiences
The media industry is entering a new phase where AI intelligence is...
12/08/2026
DPA Microphones welcomes Raul Contreras as its new West Coast Regional Sales Manager. In this role, Contreras will oversee sales and customer relationships thro...