Inc. company, and ViacomCBS announced an agreement that makes AWS the preferred cloud provider for ViacomCBS's global broadcast media operations. As part of the strategic agreement, ViacomCBS will migrate operations for its entire broadcast footprint, which spans 425 linear television channels and 40 global data and media centers, to the world's leading cloud – one of the first such large-scale transformations in the media and entertainment industry. The migration will enable ViacomCBS to drive greater efficiencies and cost savings, simplify access to content for its licensing partners, and reliably deliver new viewing experiences to consumers by broadcasting and streaming content on any device. ViacomCBS will leverage AWS's industry-leading infrastructure and comprehensive cloud capabilities, including serverless, containers, databases, media services, analytics, and machine learning, to build a cloud-based broadcast and media supply chain operating model. This new cloud-based hub will help the broadcaster spin up new channels faster, dynamically assemble live content to optimize delivery over any distribution channel, add image and video analysis to applications, and automate workflows.

CBS' streaming service, CBS All Access, credits a trio of high-profile events -- including the premiere of its new Star Trek series, "Star Trek: Picard," as well as the 62nd annual Grammy Awards, not to mention a busy month of football -- with helping it to achieve a new record for subscriber sign-ups in a given month. The company says January 2020 surpassed the service's previous record in February 2019 for subscriber sign-ups. In addition, last week was the second-best sign-up week ever, closely behind the week of the 2019 Super Bowl. Much of the record-setting had to do with the launch of the highly anticipated show, "Star Trek: Picard," which brings back fan-favorite Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, now a retired Starfleet Admiral whose quiet life on his family's vineyard is about to be disrupted. The show, set 18 years after the events of the final "Star Trek: The Next Generation" movie, "Star Trek: Nemesis," not only capitalizes on Stewart's draw, it also brings back previous "Star Trek" actors including Brent Spiner (Data), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Marina Sirtis (Troi), and Jonathan Frakes (Riker). But unlike other reboots, which hope nostalgia alone will bring the viewers, "Picard's" creators have actually given thought to the story the show is trying to tell, resulting in a 95% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.