Improved Operational Efficiency and Customer Time on RadioTimes.com Empowered by MetaBroadcast Using AWS and IMDb

MetaBroadcast focuses on cloud-based solutions to ingest, organize, and harmonize high-quality metadata provided by third-party sources by applying innovative data science techniques along with artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions. It has been cloud centered on AWS since 2012. “We selected AWS for our cloud infrastructure because they are a leader in the media and entertainment sector, providing the scale and reliability necessary for managing and processing millions of metadata transactions daily,” says Jamie Mackinlay, CEO of MetaBroadcast. “The availability and ease of access to a range of useful and critical AWS services helps us deliver quantifiable value to our clients.”

MetaBroadcast built its flagship cloud-based, active metadata solution, Atlas, using AWS. Atlas excels at processing and managing data, regardless of its source or format. The solution’s proprietary machine learning algorithms drive automated content classification while identifying missing data fields and providing suggestions to correct faulty records. “Our proposition is that we are data agnostic,” says Mackinlay. “We want to harness metadata from multiple sources into a single source of truth.”

Radio Times has been the United Kingdom’s trusted provider of television and radio program listings for over 100 years. In 1997, it launched its website, RadioTimes.com, to provide consumers with scheduling data and editorial content. It had mainly relied on an electronic-program-guide provider for its metadata until 2013, when it began collaborating with MetaBroadcast to use Atlas for unifying scheduling data at scale and centralizing its editorial reviews. “RadioTimes.com wanted to find a solution that could manage different data sources, validate that data, and normalize it into one dataset,” says Mackinlay.

To aggregate metadata from multiple sources, MetaBroadcast uses AWS Data Exchange, which makes it easy to find, subscribe to, and use third-party data. Using AWS Data Exchange for APIs, which streamlines API management for third-party data, MetaBroadcast licenses metadata from data providers found in AWS Marketplace, where businesses can find, test, buy, and deploy data and software that runs on AWS. One such provider is IMDb, the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities. Atlas has boosted RadioTimes.com’s operational efficiency even while ingesting 45 percent more data using a GraphQL API, which helps RadioTimes.com to seamlessly enrich its content in near real time.

“MetaBroadcast’s Atlas gives us a consolidated view of data ingested from multiple sources, including IMDb. We can easily check the provenance of data and review or edit records when necessary. It has helped us to save time and improve editorial team efficiency,” says Helen Hackworthy, listings and platforms editor at RadioTimes.com.

To power its customers’ entertainment experiences, MetaBroadcast licenses IMDb movie, TV, and streaming datasets, which are commercially available in AWS Marketplace and delivered through AWS Data Exchange. By accessing data from IMDb through Atlas in near real time, RadioTimes.com enriches its website with more in-depth information, imagery, and metadata about upcoming programs and films. RadioTimes.com made widespread changes to its listings in spring 2021, including redesigned pages plus the addition of streaming and IMDb metadata, which contributed to an 86 percent increase in the time consumers spent on its program and film pages.

“RadioTimes.com caters to the evolving needs of modern viewers, helping them decide what to watch and where to find it. Complementing our own data and data feeds from other sources with IMDb descriptive data further enriches our records, helping us to deliver a fulfilling web experience to our users,” says Hackworthy. “In addition, the quality of the records boosts the overall performance and traffic.”

As a data management business, MetaBroadcast prioritizes safeguarding and maintaining data integrity. The company enhances data governance and security using AWS Security Hub, a cloud security posture management service that performs security best-practice checks, aggregates alerts, and supports automated remediation. MetaBroadcast also integrates other AWS security solutions to identify threats and malicious behavior to safeguard against vulnerabilities (under the AWS Shared Responsibility Model). “Using AWS security solutions, we deliver reliable uptime, responsive systems, and accurate information,” says Mackinlay. “This has been key to our long-term success working with RadioTimes.com.”

To power Atlas and other metadata solutions, MetaBroadcast also uses Amazon EventBridge, which businesses use to build event-driven applications at scale. With interoperability among different services in its wider architecture, MetaBroadcast has experienced decreased response times and increased agility in reacting to customer requirements using productized tool sets. “Using Amazon EventBridge, we have a virtually unmatched communication and messaging layer to optimize different services in the wider architecture,” says Mackinlay. “Orchestration is a key capability that will provide a competitive edge in service delivery to our clients.”

MetaBroadcast continues to focus on sustainability and innovation. With the company’s streamlined processes, its engineering team has boosted productivity and laid out a clear vision for the future. Following the AWS commitment to sustainability, MetaBroadcast has reduced its carbon footprint by 80 percent since 2020. MetaBroadcast is also working on becoming an AWS ISV Accelerate Partner to deliver new, innovative metadata solutions to a broader market.

“Using AWS and collaborating with IMDb, we’re better, stronger, and more likely to deliver for our customers,” says Mackinlay.

Radio Times has been the UK’s trusted provider of programme listings for over 100 years. RadioTimes.com is the largest, dedicated TV entertainment news website in the UK offering trusted guidance, exclusive news, features and interviews for television and entertainment fans globally. The site carries the latest broadcast and streaming TV guides, radio listings and film reviews.

Whether scheduled, on catch-up or on-demand, the platform allows consumers to find what they need to know about any show or film available in their territory and watch this content on their chosen devices with a simple click of a button. The site has won a number of prestigious awards including the Chairman's Awards at the Online Media Awards, Launch of the Year at the AOPs and PPA's B2C Team of the Year and Best Use of Social Media.