Digital Azul positions Lisbon as a remote production hub with new MCR

Digital Azul, the Lisbon-based production company specialising in complex live events and distributed broadcast workflows, has launched a new Master Control Room (MCR), significantly expanding its capability to deliver multi-site productions with centralised editorial control. 

The new MCR positions Digital Azul as a European mid-tier remote production hub, capable of managing up to three simultaneous productions spanning multiple geographies, as demonstrated by recent deployments including sports coverage in Mexico, Miami and Shanghai, live concert contributions, and playout operations for GCTV. 

The facility is built around the Vizrt TriCaster production platform with video connectivity from Intinor Direkt routers, and a Dante audio backbone that extends through to the company's live studios and sound booths. The MCR handles a wide range of signal formats including NDI, with contribution ingest supported through Intinor and LiveU bonded transmission systems. Encoding and delivery leverage multiple platforms such as Haivision, with multi-protocol distribution across SRT, RTP and RTMP, direct contribution to broadcasters including DAZN, and satellite uplink and downlink workflows. Resilient connectivity is provided by dual ISP pathways, with dual redundant SRT transport aligned with SMPTE ST 2022-7 principles, ensuring seamless failover across network paths. 

Communications are handled by an extensive RTS intercom platform, including RTS OMNEO, NOMAD wireless and ROAMEO, providing the coordination layer that connects MCR teams and field operators throughout distributed environments. 
 
To complement this approach, Digital Azul has developed portable flyaway production kits, fully integrated with its MCR workflows. These kits include bonded connectivity solutions and Starlink-enabled field units and are designed to travel by air with a reduced crew footprint, enabling rapid international deployment with full integration into the Lisbon-based production infrastructure. 
  
Because the MCR sits within Digital Azul's Lisbon facilities, productions have direct access to live studios and professional sound booths, making it straightforward to incorporate remote commentary, multi-language broadcasting, local presenters and remote guests within a single unified workflow. 

By centralising switching, graphics, audio and editorial decision-making in Lisbon, Digital Azul reduces the operational footprint of mid-scale events, replacing traditional OB workflows and cutting travel, crew size and complexity across projects. 

"Our goal was not to build another control room," said João Tocha, founder of Digital Azul. "We built a system that allows productions to scale without scaling logistics. Editorial control stays centralised, while capture happens anywhere in the world." 

With clients including Meta, Garmin, Globo, Novartis and DAZN, Digital Azul continues to expand its role in international production workflows, supporting both broadcast and digital platforms with a unified, resilient infrastructure. The new MCR now serves as the operational core of the company's activities, connecting remote locations, studios and post-production into a single, scalable production environment. 

For more information on Digital Azul and its production capabilities, visit digitalazul.pt.