AWS Releases Channel Assembly Feature for AWS Elemental MediaTailor

The new feature allows broadcasters and OTT operators to quickly and easily create live virtual channels and optionally monetize them with dynamic ad insertion.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched Channel Assembly for its cloud-based personalization and monetization service, AWS Elemental MediaTailor.

The new feature allows broadcasters and OTT channel operators quickly and easily create virtual channels live and, optionally, monetize them with dynamic ad insertion on the server side.

Users only have to assign a list of pre-recorded programs to a schedule, and the service offers a playlist for a linear channel to audiences at scale, without having to re-transcode the video content or create an infrastructure under standard SCTE-35/104 (SCTE standards for the insertion of digital programs).

Traditional delivery methods pre-recorded content across multiple channels or for repetition in one channel can be inefficient and 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 agile way to leverage content already available in existing libraries, so content providers using AWS Elemental MediaTailor can easily create specialized or niche live streaming services without unnecessary expenses.

Creating a virtual channel in AWS Elemental MediaTailor with the new Channel Assembly feature is easy. Users sign in to the AWS Management Console, configure a user profile with permissions to create AWS Elemental MediaTailor resources, and assemble a live channel from packaged HLS, DASH, or CMAF feeds.

The file-based video encoding service AWS Elemental MediaConvert can be used to transcode content from individual file sources, including MP4, MOV, and MXF formats, into 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 supported source can then be configured as the source location for the content, and once a source location is defined, the user can create schedules and assemble a schedule for the linear channel. Programs can be programmed in a relative loop with dynamic pre-, mid- and post-broadcast ad breaks.