Media giant Fox Corp. will use Amazon Web Services Inc.’s cloud infrastructure, as well as managed offerings such as the provider’s SageMaker machine learning platform, to support broadcast operations.

AWS announced the deal at its re:Invent conference in Las Vegas today alongside a raft of new product releases, many focused on machine learning. The contract is described as a multiyear agreement that will see Fox make the Amazon.com Inc. subsidiary its “official cloud and machine learning provider.”

Fox will use AWS Media Services to distribute sports, news and entertainment content to more than 200 affiliate TV stations as well as other partners such as streaming providers. AWS Media Services is a suite of broadcaster tools designed to simplify tasks such as converting raw video into a format that can be beamed to user devices.

On the infrastructure front, Fox is adopting AWS Outposts. AWS Outposts are pre-configured data center racks that enable companies to deploy the same hardware that powers the Amazon subsidiary’s public cloud at their own locations. Fox will set up systems in its Tempe, Los Angeles, New York and Charlotte production facilities to put video processing infrastructure right next to its media teams.

One goal of the project is to reduce network delays. Since the hardware processing Fox’s video content will be in the same facilities where that video is produced, latency should be lower than if media teams had to stream their files to AWS’ public cloud and then wait for them to return. Latency is also the reason Fox is adopting AWS Local Zone, a newly unveiled offering that that places cloud infrastructure in closer physical proximity to enterprise customers’ locations.

“Across our facilities, we’re enabling our organization to create a platform that will respond to real-time data that enables us to deliver the best programming,” Paul Cheesbrough (pictured), Fox’s chief technology officer and president of digital, said in a statement. 

Fox’s cloud roadmap has a significant machine learning element. The media giant will use AWS’ SageMaker artificial intelligence development service along with analytics tools such as Amazon Kinesis to enhance the user experience for watchers.

Fox didn’t specify how it intends to use the products. One possibility is that the company, which has a sizable sports broadcasting business, will use AWS’ machine learning tools to deliver AI-generated highlight reels like those offered by emerging venture-backed startups such as WCS Sports Ltd. and Minute.ly Ltd.

Image: AWS