With demand for remote production began rising, with the need for a more seamless approach to video processing and transport across long distances, UK news provider ITN has transitioned on-premises workflows into the cloud with the help of AWS.
ITN produces and delivers daily news for UK media stalwarts like Independent Television News (ITV), Channel 4, and Channel 5, making technological innovation a priority. The production company services these clients, among others, in bringing live news and events, documentaries, sports matches, and other digital media to audiences worldwide.
The company’s work requires extensive video and data processing and transport across long distances. The AWS implementation is said to be is indicative of a larger “lift and shift” strategy the company is undertaking to reduce its carbon footprint across productions and advance media workflows with additional value in moving off-the-shelf media equipment off-premises and into a data centre.
“Working with a news organisation, we want internet-based consumers to be able to pick up on what we’re putting out there as quickly as possible, which isn’t always straightforward with on-premises media processing pipelines,” said ITN cloud and software development manager Nick Moores. “As our equipment began showing signs of aging, we seized the opportunity to pivot and take advantage of the efficiency AWS could offer. Now, that we’ve seen what’s possible, there’s no going back. Reducing our physical footprint in London to ensure more sustainable operations is a priority, and with cloud computing, we can work toward that while also breaking free from traditional, expensive circuits that forge links between sites. With AWS, we can create an alternate, more cost-efficient path between sites with cloud computing.”
The team is using AWS and ITN’s GVM platform to uncover new technology integrations for remote and decentralised production applications, such as cloud-based transcoding and editing. The combination of these tools is designed to enable ITN to produce low-latency, high-quality media using software, which has opened new doors for live event productions.
“We can easily transport media across multiple destinations and bring it into AWS instances; produce shows while maintaining traditional production capabilities like switching, audio mixing, and monitoring; and transmit the signal to viewers using VoIP,” Moores added. “It’s saved us on kit and travel costs and made the production process more durable. Increasingly, we’re seeing customers ask for rapid turnaround event support, and with AWS, we’re able to deliver.”
ITN currently edits video footage on-premises but is looking to the cloud to improve content distribution. The goal is to be able to share content as broadly as possible in terms of both platform and audience. Moving editing systems into the cloud is a priority for 2023 and that ultimately means moving more media processing pipelines into AWS.
The company’s work requires extensive video and data processing and transport across long distances. The AWS implementation is said to be is indicative of a larger “lift and shift” strategy the company is undertaking to reduce its carbon footprint across productions and advance media workflows with additional value in moving off-the-shelf media equipment off-premises and into a data centre.
“Working with a news organisation, we want internet-based consumers to be able to pick up on what we’re putting out there as quickly as possible, which isn’t always straightforward with on-premises media processing pipelines,” said ITN cloud and software development manager Nick Moores. “As our equipment began showing signs of aging, we seized the opportunity to pivot and take advantage of the efficiency AWS could offer. Now, that we’ve seen what’s possible, there’s no going back. Reducing our physical footprint in London to ensure more sustainable operations is a priority, and with cloud computing, we can work toward that while also breaking free from traditional, expensive circuits that forge links between sites. With AWS, we can create an alternate, more cost-efficient path between sites with cloud computing.”
The team is using AWS and ITN’s GVM platform to uncover new technology integrations for remote and decentralised production applications, such as cloud-based transcoding and editing. The combination of these tools is designed to enable ITN to produce low-latency, high-quality media using software, which has opened new doors for live event productions.
“We can easily transport media across multiple destinations and bring it into AWS instances; produce shows while maintaining traditional production capabilities like switching, audio mixing, and monitoring; and transmit the signal to viewers using VoIP,” Moores added. “It’s saved us on kit and travel costs and made the production process more durable. Increasingly, we’re seeing customers ask for rapid turnaround event support, and with AWS, we’re able to deliver.”
ITN currently edits video footage on-premises but is looking to the cloud to improve content distribution. The goal is to be able to share content as broadly as possible in terms of both platform and audience. Moving editing systems into the cloud is a priority for 2023 and that ultimately means moving more media processing pipelines into AWS.
