ITN Adopts AWS Elemental for Remote Cloud Production

ITN Cloud Production Workflows

Executive Summary

• Independent Television News (ITN) began transitioning on-premises workflows into the cloud using Amazon Web Services (AWS) technologies, citing rising demand for remote production.
• ITN is undertaking a lift-and-shift strategy intended to reduce its carbon footprint and move media equipment off-premises into a data center.
• ITN uses AWS services alongside its GVM platform for remote and decentralized production, including cloud-based transcoding and editing.
• ITN built a live video delivery solution for British Airways to stream a funeral ceremony to in-flight audiences over the internet, using an AWS-based live streaming workflow.

Key Industry Developments

• Cloud migration of broadcast workflows (lift-and-shift plus platform modernization).
• ITN began moving on-premises media workflows into AWS, aligning the shift with increased remote production demand and a broader lift-and-shift approach.
• The stated operational direction includes moving media equipment off-premises into a data center while using AWS for production and delivery functions.
• Live cloud processing and internet distribution using managed media services.
• In the described live workflow, AWS Elemental MediaLive was used to receive and process video, then AWS Elemental MediaPackage was used in the packaging stage.
• Distribution was handled through the Amazon CloudFront content delivery network (CDN).
• Supporting services referenced for the workflow include Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), AWS Elemental MediaConvert, and AWS Lambda.
• Disaster recovery (DR) for broadcast news via virtualized production access.
• ITN uses AWS services for disaster recovery in the Channel 4 news department, with a goal of redirecting communications, video, and audio into a virtual production environment during outages.
• Signal transport and low-latency delivery considerations.
• ITN is discussing signal delivery approaches with transmission partners, including low-latency formats such as SRT, in response to increasing adoption of highly compressed low-latency formats.

Real-World Use Cases

• British Airways in-flight live streaming over the internet.
• ITN built a live video delivery solution to stream a funeral ceremony to in-flight audiences, using AWS Elemental MediaLive for processing, AWS Elemental MediaPackage for packaging, and Amazon CloudFront for distribution.
• The workflow also references Amazon S3, AWS Elemental MediaConvert, and AWS Lambda as part of the broader solution components.
• Remote and decentralized production using ITN’s GVM platform with AWS.
• ITN uses AWS and its GVM platform for remote production applications, including cloud-based transcoding and editing.
• Use cases described include low-latency media production functions (switching, audio mixing, and monitoring) running in AWS instances, and third-party client monitoring of a feed using a cloud-based solution.
• File-based processing automation and serverless integration.
• The research describes video processing pipeline triggers using Amazon S3 watch folders and file systems.
• AWS Lambda is referenced for third-party integrations using serverless compute functions, and AWS Elemental MediaConvert is referenced for video transcoding.
• Long-distance contribution and hybrid connectivity.
• AWS Elemental MediaConnect is referenced for transporting video over long distances.
• AWS Direct Connect is used to move on-premises data and content into AWS.

Why It Matters

• Operational flexibility for production teams.
• Moving production capabilities into AWS supports remote and decentralized workflows, including cloud-based transcoding and editing, and enables access to a virtual production environment during outages when paired with DR design.
• Managed service building blocks for end-to-end live delivery.
• The documented workflow shows a concrete chain—MediaLive processing, MediaPackage packaging, and CloudFront distribution—illustrating how managed services can be combined for internet-scale delivery.
• Resilience planning for news operations.
• Using AWS services for DR in a news department provides a mechanism to redirect communications, video, and audio into a virtual production environment during outages, supporting continuity of production operations.
• Interconnect and transport choices affect signal delivery strategy.
• The combination of AWS Direct Connect for moving on-premises content into AWS, MediaConnect for long-distance video transport, and discussions around low-latency formats such as SRT reflects the practical engineering decisions involved in hybrid and cloud-based signal delivery.

Sources

• https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/media/itn-advances-live-cloud-based-content-production-and-delivery-with-aws/