Pac-12 Networks Goes All-In With AWS, Cloud Workflow New tools enable a new, more efficient way of working By Troy Dreier, Contributor, Streaming & Digital
Monday, December 3, 2018 - 11:08 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The Pac-12 Networks is on course to produce 850 games during its 2018-19 season and has found a perfect production partner in Amazon Web Services (AWS). Using a variety of AWS Elemental media solutions, Pac-12 Networks (Pac-12 Conference's production wing) has transitioned to an efficient cloud-based workflow, one that runs from creation to distribution with all stops in between.
Pac-12's relationship with AWS goes back several years, with AWS providing technology used on-premises in a more limited basis. But this season's cloud partnership has produced not only new tools but a new way of working.
They're definitely very much embracing all the services that we've made available, says Aslam Khader, chief product officer, AWS Elemental. We think this is just the start of a really interesting relationship.
Event feeds are routed to Pac-12 Networks' central production facility in San Francisco, before making their way to channels, partners, and viewers around the world. The network uses AWS MediaLive to transcode the ABR renditions, and MediaPackage to create the HLS streams for distribution to its own online service.
AWS MediaConnect is used in two ways. The newest tool in AWS Elemental's media-services line, announced just last week, it lets clients upload live video and transfer it wherever it needs to go. Pac-12 uses it to distribute live feeds to affiliates and other distribution partners and also to bring its production feeds to its own studio. Going with MediaConnect gives the network more flexibility in contribution workflows, letting it use the internet instead of fiber to transfer streams. It also lets the network source content from a greater range of venues, since fiber is no longer a concern.
AWS Elemental's Aslam Khader: [Pac-12 Networks gets] to make to make their services even more efficient from a time-to-market-latency and cost perspective and also provide customers with brand-new experiences and more choice.
At the moment, Pac-12 uses AWS MediaTailor for two of its seven owned channels but will increase that to all seven this month. The server-side ad-insertion tool lets the network deliver targeted ads to viewers and create a fluid stream that looks more like a TV broadcast and gets around ad blockers.
After an event, Pac-12 uses Amazon S3 for archiving and also turns its live streams into VOD assets using MediaPackage. Producers can specify in and out points in live streams. That content is held in a 14-day rolling buffer for every channel. When needed, AWS will create the on-demand files from the buffer, storing them on S3 along with the manifest.
Pac-12's production has undergone an enormous change, but creating the new workflow has been a collaborative process, enabling all teams to get up to speed quickly.
AWS promotes the concept of fail fast and scale fast, creating an atmosphere of quick experimentation. When something doesn't work, Pac-12 can put it aside without wasting a lot of money and resources. But when something clicks, AWS helps grow the results.
Pac-12 started working with MediaTailor just a few weeks ago, but, thanks to this supportive environment, it has already implemented a complex ad-decisioning and digital-advertising workflow - one that incorporates AWS media services, Pac-12's ad-decisioning server, and third-party ad networks - in a short time.
Although Pac-12 is already making use of a variety of AWS tools, that is likely to increase in the coming years. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) solutions could automate tasks like creating highlight clips and generating real-time closed captions.
They were one of the first in the world to put together this centralized production environment, bringing 10, 12 camera feeds into a central studio for the purpose of producing premium events, Khader says. We do see a lot of potential for how a lot of that can also be migrated to the cloud.
It's really right for a lot of innovation that can benefit from AI and ML technologies, he continues, which they are looking at very closely - a very big advantage of going with media services and AWS. They get to make use of the large number of ML services to make their services even more efficient from a time-to-market-latency and cost perspective and also provide customers with brand-new experiences and more choice, which I think they want to do and which we are fully enabling with all of these capabilities.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
Pac-12 Networks Goes All-In With AWS, Cloud Workflow New tools enable a new, more efficient way of working By Troy Dreier, Contributor, Streaming & Digital 
