Starting today, AWS Elemental MediaTailor now supports HLS Interstitials for video-on-demand (VOD) streams. This feature, which you can enable as an option, automatically conditions manifests so ad break pods are decoupled from the main content stream. By separating the ad content from the main video stream, HLS Interstitials provides more efficient ad payload delivery reducing video start-up time when compared to traditional Server-Side Ad Insertion and reduced buffering or errors during ad breaks compared to Client-Side Ad Insertion.

If your player supports HLS Interstitials and you enable this setting for a given MediaTailor playback configuration or session, mid-roll ad breaks will late bind to the video stream as the player reaches the ad opportunity. This removes the ad decision process from the video start time critical path resulting in no additional start-up time when monetizing your streams with MediaTailor.

For more information on Server Side Ad Insertion for VOD please read visit the following blog post.

AWS Elemental MediaTailor is a channel assembly and personalized ad-insertion service for video providers to create linear over-the-top (OTT) channels using existing video content. The service then lets you monetize those channels—or other live streams—with personalized advertising across the broadest range of devices with a seamless viewer experience. MediaTailor functions independently or as part of AWS Media Services, a family of services that form the foundation of cloud-based workflows.

Visit the AWS region table for a full list of AWS Regions where AWS Elemental MediaTailor is available. To learn more about MediaTailor, please visit the product page.