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 ...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Studer-inspired 500-series PWM compressor unveiled
The HLabs range already includes a couple of Studer-inspired offerings in the form of the PRE169 and EQ16...
13/11/2026
Download Now!
To view the white paper, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name
Company*
Country* Please select your countryA...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
Beginning today, November 13, Apple HomeView is available for purchase at Apple Store locations, on the Apple Store online, and in the Apple Store app in select...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
12/11/2026
uniqFEED has opened a Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Madrid, Spain. It is already operational, delivering virtual advertising for LaLiga matches. The ROC is ...
12/11/2026
Disney, ESPN and the NBA will present Dunk the Halls, the third real-time animated NBA game using Sony's Beyond Sports data visualization technology, on Chr...
12/11/2026
Van Wagner has launched Van Wagner RELAY, a digital platform for official athlet...
12/11/2026
Deal brings together two of the industry's most established graphics brands and significantly expands Vizrt's footprint in U.S. sports and regional broa...
12/11/2026
Euro TV Production GmbH of Austria has upgraded its outside broadcast vehicle with Lawo technology. The mc 36 Classic console in service since 2019 was replaced...
12/11/2026
Tagboard has launched Spark Resize, an AI-assisted tool now in beta that takes an existing graphic and produces a new version for a different aspect ratio or sc...
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 
