Bridging the gap between AV and broadcast

The AV-broadcast divide is fading fast – that’s why PTZOptics offers feature-rich camera and production solutions designed with both worlds in mind

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The boundaries between broadcast television and commercial AV are dissolving fast, and a new landscape is developing, where cross-platform creativity is taking the spotlight. For Paul Richards, chief revenue officer at PTZOptics, that shift represents more than just a market trend.

“The lines between traditional broadcast and commercial AV are getting blurrier by the day, and that’s exciting,” he enthuses. “Whether you’re producing a live corporate town hall meeting or a national TV segment, the fundamentals remain the same: tell a compelling story, keep your audience engaged and make it look great.”

Once upon a time, corporate AV and broadcast were distinct worlds separated by equipment, workflows and even language. Today, a single production might be streamed to employees worldwide, recorded for on-demand viewing and simultaneously aired on local television. In this hybrid environment, creators demand tools that are able to adapt seamlessly to multiple contexts.

Richards notes that while ‘the tools might differ, the creative goals overlap’, and it’s in that overlap where PTZOptics has carved its niche. Its cameras are designed to feel equally at home in a boardroom or a broadcast truck – a versatility that’s ever more critical as the same creative teams straddle multiple platforms.

A standout example is PTZOptics’ new Producer bundles. Each bundle includes three PTZ cameras and a joystick controller, offering a turnkey solution for anyone looking to elevate production quality quickly.

“We’re taking products that have historically been part of the AV toolbox and packaging them in such a way that you can create an instant broadcast studio, almost right out of the box,” explains Richards.

But cameras are just one piece of the convergence puzzle. PTZOptics’Hive Studio platform emphasises the company’s wider vision of collaboration, control and interoperability. As Richards puts it, Hive Studio ‘doubles as both a camera management tool and a control and collaboration system’, delivering significant benefits to both AV and broadcast professionals.

The core philosophy is simple: reduce technical barriers so that creators can focus on storytelling.

“The more we can provide creators with gear that works across formats, the more they can focus on ideas instead of limitations. That’s when really cool things start to happen,” concludes Richards.

As the AV and broadcast worlds continue to merge, the winners will be the organisations – and the audiences – that benefit from more engaging and technically polished content.

The ultimate goal for PTZOptics is clear: build tools that serve both worlds without compromise.

With the company’s flexible and format-agnostic gear, like its Producer bundles and Hive Studio, Richards and his team are aiming for a future that belongs to creators who refuse to be boxed in by old industry lines.

Come and visit the PTZOptics booth – 1.B07 – at IBC 2025 to learn more

This feature was first published in the Sep/Oct 2025 issue of LIVE.