Broadcast SSAI on AWS

Executive Summary

Two broadcast organizations described server-side ad insertion (SSAI) architectures built on AWS Media Services to deliver personalized advertising in linear and live streaming contexts.
The documented workflows emphasize end-to-end live video pipelines (ingest, encoding/transcoding, packaging, distribution) with ad insertion performed through manifest manipulation and ad decisioning via an Ad Decision Server (ADS).
Reported outcome metrics include viewer engagement changes for free-to-air (FTA) addressable advertising and large-scale view and ad-insertion volumes for a major sports event.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and AWS described an addressable advertising approach for free-to-air channels using HbbTV, implemented as personalized SSAI.
WBD’s SSAI workflow is described as a chain of AWS media components: AWS Elemental MediaConnect for ingest, AWS Elemental MediaLive for encoding, AWS Elemental MediaConvert for ad asset preparation, AWS Elemental MediaPackage for distribution preparation, Amazon CloudFront for delivery, and AWS Elemental MediaTailor for personalized ad insertion.
France Télévisions described deploying SSAI on AWS for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, including a multi-Region deployment for live content delivery with personalized advertising. The SSAI description specifies server-level ad embedding and highlights scaling behavior during audience spikes.
France Télévisions’ SSAI implementation details include AWS Elemental MediaTailor performing manifest manipulation to insert personalized ads, with ad decisions made by an Ad Decision Server (ADS).

FTA linear addressable advertising via HbbTV (WBD):
The described use case targets free-to-air channels and uses HbbTV to enable personalized ad insertion without changing the underlying linear broadcast experience.
The workflow explicitly includes live ingest (MediaConnect), encoding (MediaLive), ad asset preparation (MediaConvert), distribution preparation (MediaPackage), delivery (CloudFront), and SSAI (MediaTailor).
WBD also described a “start-over” capability for free-to-air channels, enabling viewers to restart a program from the beginning.
Large-scale live event SSAI with multi-format packaging (France Télévisions):
France Télévisions described live stream preparation using AWS Elemental MediaConnect for secure transport, AWS Elemental MediaLive for live transcoding, and AWS Elemental MediaPackage for packaging and protection for internet delivery.
The platform packaged live streams into HLS and MPEG-DASH formats for internet delivery, aligning with broad device compatibility requirements for OTT distribution.
France Télévisions reported event-scale metrics on the France.tv platform: more than 200 million video views and 320 million ad insertions.

SSAI implementation details affect operational design: The sources describe SSAI as server-side ad embedding and, in the France Télévisions architecture, as manifest manipulation performed by AWS Elemental MediaTailor with ad decisions coming from an ADS. These details determine how ad breaks are represented and how ad decisioning integrates into playback workflows.
End-to-end live pipelines are presented as composable building blocks: Both organizations describe architectures that separate ingest, encoding/transcoding, packaging, and delivery into distinct services (MediaConnect, MediaLive, MediaPackage, CloudFront), with MediaTailor responsible for personalized insertion. This decomposition clarifies where teams can instrument, scale, and troubleshoot each stage.
Measured outcomes and scale provide reference points: WBD reported an increase in average ad content watched per session from two to three minutes to 20 minutes based on initial data, while France Télévisions reported more than 200 million video views and 320 million ad insertions for the event on France.tv.

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/media/warner-bros-discovery-reinvents-linear-television-advertising-with-aws/
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/media/france-televisions-transformed-paris-2024-olympic-games-advertising-using-aws/