If there remains any doubt that the cloud and artificial intelligence are transforming the workflows that drive the Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is actively removing them at the 2024 NAB Show.
Television broadcasters — especially news-producing stations and networks — are getting a firsthand look at how the AWS cloud offers an alternative to brick-and-mortar newsrooms and production control rooms.
“This is a year of news, especially in the U.S. with the elections,” said Tracy Geist, global head of Industry Marketing for Media & Entertainment, Games and Sports at AWS. “We are really focusing on the newsroom in the cloud, from production all the way through distribution and consumption.”
In the West Hall lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) and a glass-enclosed production control room in the AWS booth (W1701) attendees can see firsthand how AWS in partnership with NVIDIA are powering the NAB Show LIVE news desk — a traditional rundown-oriented news presentation — on the cloud.
In the mornings, production control shifts to the Broadcast Beat Studios in Florida to demonstrate how the cloud can be used to produce rundown-centric newscasts from a remote location.
A separate booth demo builds on the news focus with the cloud as the centerpiece of story-centric news workflows. Rather than simply producing the content for a newscast rundown, story-centric workflows focus on collaborative story production for distribution via social media, mobile, websites and linear newscasts.
The story-centric workflow at the AWS booth features SaaS tools running on the company’s cloud, including a story-centric newsroom solution from Dina, a production asset management system from Mimir and an HTML5-based graphics solution from Viz Flowics.
Some 80 AWS partners are participating in the company’s focus on newsrooms and the other five targeted M&E solutions in the booth, including broadcast, live production, content monetization, media supply chain and data science and analytics. Many are highlighting how generative AI fits into the overall media equation, said Geist.
“Tech for tech’s sake is not as interesting as tech that actually is driving real value,” said Julie Souza, global leader, Strategic Business Development, Sports at AWS. “Gen AI is driving operational efficiencies so that creative people can be freed up to do more of the great things they do best.”
The booth’s Builder Zone not only is giving visitors a peak behind the demos to see the specific AWS services and components powering them but also the chance to have some fun at the AWS Generative AI Playground where they are getting hands-on experience building Gen AI apps with Amazon Bedrock, Amazon Q and PartyRock.
BEYOND THE BOOTH
The 2024 edition of the NAB Show is the biggest to date for AWS, and the company is making its presence felt beyond its booth, said Geist.
Near the booth, NAB and the company have put together the AWS Partner Village and Learning Lounge (W1343) where about a dozen companies are demonstrating their solutions in standalone pods. The site also offers an area for people to network and a theater where partner companies, their customers, thought leaders and AWS offer daily presentations on different implementations. The Learning Lounge focuses on the technical aspects of the cloud, offering an environment conducive to education.
AWS Partners participating in the village and lounge include: Amagi, Anypoint Media, Arc XP, Ateliere, Bedrock Streaming, CSG, Datazoom, EPAM, GlobalLogic, Imagine Communications, IMDb, Irdeto, JW Player, M2A, MASV, Merapar, Stringr, Tagboard and Veritone.
In the LVCC South Upper Hall (SU4109), the AWS Generative AI Golf Experience gives attendees a chance to tee off from many iconic golf courses. AWS is working with Full Swing, the official simulator partner of the PGA TOUR, to power the company’s golf simulator experience.
Golfer Alastair Soutar, Director, Batcam, tees off in the AWS Generative AI Golf Experience.
After taking their swing, attendees can design their dream golf holes with AWS generative AI tools and walk away with customized golf posters.
Those looking to level up their careers in the M&E industry during the #GALSINGEAR CONNECT half-day program, Tuesday, April 16, also have an opportunity to hear from a leader at AWS, which is sponsoring the event.
Samira Bakhtiar, general manager of Media & Entertainment, Games and Sports at AWS, is delivering the program keynote.
The expanded presence of AWS at NAB Show is no accident, said Geist. “If we look back as we were going into last year, we were talking about how we were going to double down on M&E as a company and as a business,” she said. “That’s exactly what we have done for 2024 and exactly what people are seeing throughout the convention center with our presence in so many places.”
AWS AT NAB SHOW
Along with the company’s participation in the Excellence in Sustainability Awards, which happened on Sunday, and today’s session “How Generative AI Is Changing the Game,” on the Main Stage at 11:30 a.m., AWS has a busy lineup at NAB Show.
Amazon Web Services, West Hall (W1701):
- Six AWS M&E Solutions Areas, including Newsroom in the Cloud
- Four Direct-to-Consumer Use Cases, including live, linear playout with dynamic Server-Side
Ad Insertion (SSAI) with live news content; Video on Demand (VOD) programming options; Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST) channels for VOD assets; and Personalized FAST from VOD assets
- Monetization demos focused on converged TV ad sales, unified measurement solutions, next-gen ad formats and privacy-enhanced consumer data solutions
- Media Supply Chain & Archive solution area, including newsroom use cases
- Content production with production of a 60-second movie trailer
- Data Science & Analytics with demonstrations of contextual search for real-time news, and contextual ads for real-time news.
- AWS Generative AI Playground
- AWS Builder Zone
The NAB Show LIVE News Desk Powered by AWS and NVIDIA
West Hall Lobby
In partnership with Broadcast Beat Studios, the news desk will demonstrate how the cloud can be used to create rundown-centric newscasts. Production control is taking place in the AWS booth and at a remote site in Florida.
The NAB Show LIVE can be viewed in the AWS booth, on the NAB Show website and on select screens located across the conference halls.
AWS Partner Village and Learning Lounge (W1343)
AWS partners participate in learning workshops. A theater provides a venue for presentations by AWS customers and partners as well as M&E industry experts. The AWS Partner Village and Learning Lounge features multiple partners.
AWS Generative AI Golf Experience (SU4109)
Step into the tee box of some of golf’s most iconic holes with Full Swing, the Official Simulator Partner of the PGA TOUR. Full Swing’s technology delivers a realistic off-the-course experience showing real ball flight, powered by AWS.
AWS x #GALSNGEAR CONNECT 2024 (W208-W209)
AWS is sponsoring the #GALSNGEAR CONNECT event, taking place at NAB Show tomorrow. The half-day program is designed to help participants level up their career journeys and build their professional brands in M&E industry. Samira Bakhtiar, general manager of Media & Entertainment, Games and Sports at AWS, will deliver the opening keynote.
Copyright NAB 2024.
