AWS for M&E Blog
France Télévisions transformed Paris 2024 Olympic Games advertising using AWS
In the dynamic world of sports broadcasting, a subtle revolution was unfolding behind the scenes during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. While millions of viewers watched the athletes’ feats on their screens, few suspected the technological mastery at play behind the curtain. Drawing on its legacy of innovation since the first Olympic broadcasts in 1960, France Télévisions reached a pivotal milestone by partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to radically transform the digital advertising experience. This strategic alliance enabled the deployment of cutting-edge Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) technology—redefining video delivery standards and ushering in a new era of sports content monetization. We will explore the heart of this innovation, where advanced performance and exceptional user experience converge.
SSAI technology: Revolutionizing video streaming
Streaming video through Over-The-Top (OTT, Streaming content directly over the Internet, bypassing traditional networks such as cable, satellite, or terrestrial television) platforms now offers a personalized viewing experience, notably by tailoring advertisements to individual users. This approach enhances viewer engagement and improves monetization. According to recent studies by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), 88% of consumers prefer personalized ads over generic ones. This strong preference is also reflected among advertisers, who report significant returns on investment after implementing personalized video campaigns. “The effectiveness of advertising went up significantly: real reach increased from 50% to 71% with contextual video,” they note.
Server-Side Ad Insertion addresses these challenges by embedding personalized advertisements directly into the video stream at the server level. This approach ensures an uninterrupted user experience, maintains consistent quality between content and ads, bypasses ad blockers, and enhances content monetization.
Traditionally, ads were inserted client-side, directly on the user’s device, limiting quality control and exposing ads to blockers.
The challenges of SSAI for high-audience events
Implementing a SSAI architecture presents numerous technical and organizational challenges. Real-time ad insertion into video streams must occur without compromising the fluidity of the user experience, which is particularly demanding when broadcasting across a multitude of devices with varying formats and protocols (smartphones, smart TVs, computers). During high-audience events like the Olympics, the infrastructure must be capable of supporting millions of concurrent connections without degradation, while generating personalized manifests (playlist files describing the video segments to be played) that cannot be cached. This necessitates a highly scalable and responsive origin service.
Precise ad insertion into a live video stream requires perfect synchronization to avoid any lag or disruption. In the OTT context, replacing a linear ad break with equivalent-duration digital ads presents a challenge, often addressed by using video slates to fill potential gaps. The SSAI architecture must also interact with ad servers through various standards such as VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) or VMAP (Video Multiple Ad Playlist), making workflows more complex and sometimes less compatible.
Moreover, personalizing ads based on user data like location or behavior adds an additional layer of operational complexity.
How does AWS address this?
AWS Elemental MediaTailor efficiently manages audience spikes through automatic scaling. This service offers dynamic content personalization, both live and on-demand, while verifying smooth delivery even during millions of simultaneous requests.
MediaTailor adjusts its capabilities in real-time based on demand, preventing broadcasters from over-provisioning their infrastructure. This approach provides consistent streaming quality, even during high-traffic events like major sports competitions. The service also complies with industry standards, such as those defined by the IAB, confirming optimal integration with existing advertising ecosystems.
To anticipate the technical challenges associated with these major events, France Télévisions closely collaborated with AWS, leveraging AWS Countdown Premium. This partnership provided tailored support to facilitate thorough preparation ahead of the events. To learn more about how France Télévisions prepared for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games using the AWS Countdown program, we invite you to read the latest AWS Blog Post on the subject.
The phased deployment of the SSAI platform
Since 2022, France Télévisions has been gradually deploying its SSAI technology platform on AWS to optimize the monetization of its live and on-demand content. This step-by-step implementation strategy began with an initial introduction during Roland-Garros 2022. Followed by adoption on France 2 and France 3 later that year, then expansion to France 5 at the end of 2023, culminating in a large-scale deployment for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
This gradual approach provided teams a way to gain experience and refine the solution before the major event of the Olympics. Positive results at each phase validated this strategy, even though accurately anticipating the required load in the face of the Games’ success proved to be a considerable challenge.
The AWS architecture for the Olympic Games
The architecture diagram presents the streamlined architecture adopted by France Télévisions to implement reliable live Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) on AWS.
Figure 1: AWS Dynamic Ad Insertion workflow.
For the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, France Télévisions adopted an innovative architecture based on a multi-Region deployment, confirming high availability and optimal resilience for live content delivery, including personalized advertising. This solution relies on several AWS Media Services. To manage cloud contribution, France Télévisions uses AWS Elemental MediaConnect, which provides secure and reliable transport of live video streams from their source to the AWS cloud. The source is an MPEG-2 stream containing SCTE-35 markers and includes multiple components: audio, video, and subtitles.
Live transcoding is handled by AWS Elemental MediaLive, the real-time video compression service that generates high-quality streams tailored for delivery across various devices. MediaLive encodes live video sources, producing multiple versions optimized for different types of screens. SCTE markers can either be passed through from the source or sent directly to MediaLive through an API call. For packaging, AWS Elemental MediaPackage reliably prepares and protects the video for internet delivery by converting the real-time stream from MediaLive into different formats: HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) and MPEG-DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP).
At the heart of the server-side ad delivery system, AWS Elemental MediaTailor plays a central role by dynamically inserting personalized ads into live video streams. This process relies on manifest manipulation, where MediaTailor modifies the playback manifest to integrate ad segments tailored to each viewer. The decisions about which ads to insert are made by an Ad Decision Server (ADS), which can be any ad server, whether for directly sold advertising solutions or programmatic advertising platforms.
The solution workflow
Following is the solution workflow:
- The process begins with a source containing SCTE-35 ad markers embedded in the video stream.
- When the viewer requests a Live manifest, the request is received by MediaTailor.
- Which then retrieves the original Live manifest from MediaPackage identifying the slots dedicated to ad insertion.
- MediaTailor then connects to France Télévisions’ Ad Server system through the VAST protocol to obtain a list of ads to insert in place of the original ads.
- After sending the request, the ad server responds with a list of replacement ads tailored to the user’s profile.
- MediaTailor updates the playlist accordingly and returns it directly to the end user.
- During commercial breaks, the viewer watches the content delivered from the CDN (Content Delivery Network) or from the MediaTailor origin.
- A client-side ad tracking system, where France Télévisions’ video player collects and sends tracking beacons to the ad servers, enables accurate measurement of impressions and user interactions.
A successful collaboration for a global event
The event was a true media success, with record-breaking audiences. The opening ceremony, broadcast on July 26, drew 24.4 million viewers, representing exactly 81.5% market share. On the digital side, the France.tv platform achieved outstanding results, with more than 200 million video views, 320 million ad insertions, and advertising revenue that doubled compared to the previous year.
These results not only illustrate the evolution of viewing habits but also confirm the central role of digital platforms in broadcasting major sporting events. France Télévisions successfully adapted to new media consumption habits by delivering high-quality coverage accessible across all devices. The collaboration between France Télévisions and AWS during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games perfectly embodies this transformation. It demonstrates how technological innovation can meet the challenges of large-scale broadcasting while enhancing the user experience.
Beyond the impressive figures, what truly took place before our eyes was a genuine transformation of the television experience. The success of the SSAI deployment demonstrates that in the digital age, advertising can be seamlessly integrated into the media narrative rather than interrupting it. This synergy between French audiovisual expertise and the power of the cloud paves the way for a future where technology and creativity converge to deliver ever more immersive experiences. As the chapter of the Paris Olympic Games comes to a close, the technological legacy of this collaboration will continue to shape the evolution of global sports broadcasting, setting new standards of excellence in a constantly changing industry.
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