Broadpeak Bolsters ANZ Footprint With New Regional Vice-President

Broadpeak has named Carl Hurd as Vice-President for Australia and New Zealand, strengthening its on-the-ground presence as streaming providers in the region face mounting demands around performance, scalability and monetisation. In an interview, Hurd outlined the distinctive dynamics of the ANZ market and the priorities he believes will define success for broadcasters, operators and platforms.

Hurd described ANZ as a mature streaming landscape where consumer expectations are particularly high for live sport and premium content. He noted that the mix of advanced digital adoption and geographic scale creates delivery challenges, with providers needing to maintain broadcast-grade quality over long distances and variable network conditions. The market's intensity is heightened by global streamers competing alongside robust local broadcasters and telcos, he added, which accelerates innovation while increasing pressure on efficiency.

Among current pain points, Hurd highlighted the task of delivering consistently high-quality, low-latency streams at scale during live events, where audiences expect reliability on a par with traditional broadcast. At the same time, he said providers are grappling with rising distribution costs and the need to sharpen monetisation. Operational complexity is also growing as organisations manage multi-CDN strategies, personalisation, advertising workflows and real-time analytics in parallel.

Hurd pointed to several accelerating trends in ANZ, including the rise of hybrid business models. Ad-supported streaming and FAST channels are expanding alongside subscription services, as platforms pursue more flexible and sustainable revenue strategies. He also cited increased investment in low-latency delivery, AI-driven optimisation and data analytics to enhance both viewer experience and operational efficiency, with a shift from pure scale to smarter, more efficient operations.

Looking at opportunities, Hurd argued that combining performance optimisation with cost control is the most impactful lever. Improvements in observability, automated delivery decisions and intelligent traffic optimisation can simultaneously boost quality of experience and strengthen unit economics. He also sees significant upside in personalisation—from targeted advertising to tailored content experiences—to deepen engagement and grow revenues without defaulting to price rises.

As organisations plan their infrastructure roadmaps, Hurd advised prioritising resilience, flexibility and intelligence. Resilience is essential given low audience tolerance for outages or degraded live streams. Flexibility matters as both monetisation models and delivery architectures continue to evolve. And intelligence—through real-time analytics, automation and AI-led optimisation—will increasingly determine who can scale efficiently while preserving premium experiences.

Broadpeak said its continued investment in ANZ reflects a long-term commitment to supporting local media companies with technologies and expertise geared to these challenges. With Hurd in post, the company aims to deepen collaboration with customers and partners across the region, focusing on low-latency streaming, monetisation strategies, CDN optimisation and operational efficiency.

broadpeak.tv/