Warner Bros. Discovery transforms FTA advertising with HbbTV and AWS
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to deliver a new approach to addressable advertising on free-to-air (FTA) linear television, using the capabilities of the HbbTV standard. First launched in Italy, the solution combines broadcast reliability with broadband personalisation, making WBD’s targeted ad inventory up to eight times more valuable.
The project uses AWS Media Services to enable server-side ad insertion (SSAI) across HbbTV-enabled devices. Live video is processed through AWS Elemental MediaConnect, MediaLive, MediaConvert and MediaPackage, with AWS Elemental MediaTailor performing deterministic, session-specific ad insertion. This architecture ensures broadcast-quality continuity while supporting advanced features such as start-over viewing, allowing audiences to restart programmes seamlessly without leaving the linear stream.
WBD reports significant increases in viewer engagement. Users are now watching around 20 minutes of personalised ads per session compared with a previous average of two to three minutes. Access to detailed AWS logs also enables deeper insight into performance and future development.
Following the successful Italian launch, WBD plans to expand the solution across Poland, Spain and Germany. The partnership demonstrates how HbbTV combined with cloud-based workflows can reinvent linear TV advertising and elevate viewer experiences across Europe.
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