AWS Elemental reached for a familiar example to explain their newest live-streaming feature: NFL RedZone. Viewers who want that kind of multi-game, multi-angle experience can now get it for any sporting event. Broadcasters no longer have to pay to encode it many times over.
AWS Elemental announced four new live video features ahead of IBC2026. The company showed them at Booth 5.C90 in Hall 5 through Sept. 14. The features target three broadcaster pain points. First, giving viewers personalized multi-camera views. Second, understanding what’s happening on screen in real time. Third, filling ad space that would otherwise go unsold.
Dynamic multiview, cheaper
The flagship feature is AWS Elemental MediaPackage Dynamic Multiview, which Lone said launched during IBC2026. It lets each viewer choose their own multi-camera layout, similar to NFL RedZone, from one set of encoded sources. Viewers get that layout over standard HTTP Live Streaming or Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP. That means it works on ordinary devices without a special app.
Without this feature, personalized multiview gets expensive fast, Steph Lone, Global Leader of Solutions Architecture for Media and Entertainment, Games, and Sports at AWS said. Take 10 video streams with four camera placements each. Lone said that adds up to more than 5,000 possible combinations. Normally, each of those would need pre-encoding or a special app on the viewer’s device. Dynamic Multiview avoids that step, according to AWS. It reaches an estimated 97 percent of devices without any extra downloads. For broadcasters, AWS says the feature cuts encoding costs by up to 97 percent.
Personalizing beyond the picture
Dynamic Multiview also carries ad-insertion markers with the feed, Lone said. That lets broadcasters run ads inside each personalized view. Options include a banner across part of the frame or a full tile swap to an ad. Broadcasters can also run a picture-in-picture box next to the video. Lone said the goal is better monetization alongside better personalization, which is where broadcasters want to go.
Teaching video to read itself
The second feature, AWS Elemental Inference Contextual Metadata, applies AI to live video in real time. It identifies objects, actions, brands, and sentiment in every frame, with no human tagging, according to AWS. Lone said this kind of contextual understanding used to work only on recorded video. Applying it live is a meaningful step forward.
Lone said the feature also opens new ad space on programming that’s traditionally hard to sell against, like news broadcasts. Advertisers often skip news programming, Lone said, unsure what’s on screen or how a story will play. Real-time scene and sentiment data lets AWS Elemental match ads to content contextually. Lone said that could unlock inventory that used to go unsold.
Filling the gaps
The third and fourth features round out the monetization story. AWS Elemental MediaTailor Yield Optimization uses machine learning to automatically fill unsold ad inventory. It draws on Amazon Publisher Services demand at no extra setup cost, according to AWS. Previously, Lone said, that unsold space often went to house ads or brand filler instead of paid inventory. AWS Elemental MediaTailor Low-Latency Ad Insertion, the fourth feature, extends personalized ad insertion to low-latency streams using Apple’s HLS interstitials. That lets publishers keep fast delivery without giving up ad revenue.
A decade in the making
AWS built this stack on top of its 2015 acquisition of Elemental Technologies, Lone said. The company has kept investing in media and entertainment ever since. Lone said AWS Elemental services now reach an estimated 1.6 billion viewers. AWS did not share independent figures to support that number. Lone also pointed to a production deployment for the FIFA World Cup, done at scale for DirecTV. They offered it as an example of the technology working under real broadcast pressure.
What it means for buyers
For broadcasters and streaming platforms, the four features point toward a single idea. Video that understands itself can personalize and monetize on the fly. Lone said roughly 90 percent of new AWS Elemental features come from customer requests. Lone predicted more personalization and AI-driven content discovery ahead. Whether the technology holds up at that scale is something the industry will watch as broadcasters put it into production.
See all of AVNation’s IBC 2026 coverage here.
Tim Albright is the founder of AVNation and is the driving force behind the AVNation network. He carries the InfoComm CTS, a B.S. from Greenville College and is pursuing an M.S. in Mass Communications from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. When not steering the AVNation ship, Tim has spent his career designing systems for churches both large and small, Fortune 500 companies, and education facilities.
- Tim Albright
- Tim Albright
- Tim Albright
- Tim Albright
