23 May 2025 - As excitement builds for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) has officially launched its Broadcast Training Programme (BTP), drawing a strong response from students across Italy. Since applications opened on 28 April, the programme has already received more than 835 submissions from local students eager to gain hands-on experience in Olympic broadcast operations.
Designed to provide immersive, behind-the-scenes exposure to the production of the Olympic Games, the BTP offers students in each Olympic host nation a unique opportunity to work alongside international experts and industry professionals, equipping them with valuable technical and professional skills in a fast-paced, international broadcast environment.
At OBS, we see the BTP as an investment in the future. By welcoming students – and since Paris 2024 also Olympians and Paralympians – into the heart of Olympic broadcasting, we are shaping not only the next generation of professionals, but also the storytellers who will carry the Olympic legacy forward.
Yiannis Exarchos - CEO of OBS
Approximately 1,000 students from across Italy will participate in training workshops between 24 May and 10 July in Milan, with around 650 set to join the OBS broadcast operations team during the Games. Led by more than 25 professionals from various OBS departments, the workshops will cover a range of specialisations, including live production, content creation, video logging, broadcast support and more. Approximately 20 per cent of the students working with OBS at the Olympic Games will also be offered opportunities to contribute during the Paralympics.
In addition to offering Olympic broadcast experience to local students, the BTP will once again be extended to athletes, after they were successfully included in the initiative for the first time at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. A total of 30 places have been reserved for Olympians and Paralympians to join the Milano Cortina 2026 BTP, providing these athletes with valuable professional development opportunities for their post-sport careers.
Ensuring a lasting broadcasting legacy in Olympic host nations
Since its inception in 1984, the BTP has trained more than 14,000 students across Olympic host nations, reinforcing OBS’s commitment to creating a lasting legacy by strengthening the local broadcasting industry.
Luana Florentino, Training and BTP Senior Manager at OBS, said: “The BTP offers students a unique opportunity to work behind the scenes of a major live production, boosting their skills and confidence. Their contributions are genuinely valued by our teams, and they quickly become trusted and integral members of the broadcast crew.”
Participants in the BTP benefit not only from technical training, but also from the opportunity to expand their networks, gain international exposure and build confidence in a dynamic, multicultural environment. Many go on to pursue careers in sports media and production, with the BTP serving as a powerful launchpad.
“When I first attended the training session, I did not imagine that working as a BTP student at the Olympics would be such a turning point in my life and future career,” says Yeeun, who worked as a production assistant during the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. “Working alongside very experienced broadcast professionals, I could learn a lot about broadcast journalism: conducting interviews, finding feature story topics and interacting with people from different cultures and countries. This experience made me realise how passionate I was about communications. As a result, I decided to apply for a student reporter position a few weeks after the Games, and I got accepted. I will always be grateful for the opportunity I was given to be part of the BTP.”
The BTP for Milano Cortina 2026 is being delivered in partnership with 14 academic institutions across Italy, including leading universities and creative arts schools such as the Politecnico di Milano, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca and Accademia di Brera.
OBS is the host broadcaster for all editions of the Olympic Summer and Winter Games. Created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2001, OBS is responsible for delivering unbiased and comprehensive live television, radio and digital coverage of each edition of the Games to Olympic Media Rights-Holders around the world.
