The Olympic Broadcasting Services “Broadcast Training Programme” for 2012

Last week saw me at Canary Wharf getting an overview with a group of invited guests regarding the plans for the London iteration of an Olympic TV tradition – a broadcast training programmebased on the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The television side of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is really the crucial part – the massive amount of revunue generated from rights, advertising and related media are what keeps the whole circus going. In the past the IOC have set up a joint venture with the host city to form the “host broadcast company”. This company is responsible for all of the images, sound, graphics, on-screen info, etc, from all of the sport. The then sell this feed to all of the rights holding broadcasters. Today, this is a stand-alone company – the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS).

As you can imagine, the scale is vast. 6500 “games-time” staff. 1000 cameras. 62 OB trucks. 5000 hours of content. 200 broadcast countries. And amidst the “largest production company in the world” is a training programme for broadcast students.

This programme has been run by the OBS and has a clear mission: to enhance the skills and experience of broadcast students by introducing them to:

• the world of Olympic broadcasting
• the scope and scale of the wider communications industry beyond the Olympics
• the goals and spirits of the Games

Their goal is to place students from broadcast courses (18+) in paid positions during 2012.  To date over 7000 students from around the world have taken advantage of this scheme, with many of them going on to great careers in the media industry.

The benefits for the students are:

• hand-on experience at a high professional level
• interacting and working side by side with leading professionals
• using the latest media technology
• gaining a cross-cultural experience

The programme consists of a number of pre-Games training workshops, with tailored content depending on the role that the individual will perform:

• Archive / Librarian
• Audio Assistant
• Business Assistant – helping with payroll, timesheets, expenditure, etc
• Camera Assistant
• Commentary Systems (monitoring audio)
• Liaison Officers – working with Rights Holding Broadcasters
• Loggers
• Utility – set up / tear down / cabling / etc
• Logistics Assistants  – a general runner

All of these positions are paid, with the successful candidates working side-by-side, identical to mainstream paid staff. They need to be students during January 2011. There will be an estimate 700 of these trainees working on the Games.

The International Broadcast Centre, Beijing

The timetable:

• Sep – Nov 2010 – OBS select colleges and universities to work with
• Jan – Aug 2011 – recruitment of the students
• Sep – Nov 2011 – training workshops
• March – April 2012 – allocation of roles
• July – August 2012 – working at the Games.

The mood from the briefing was one of co-operation – with lots of good noises coming from the OBS regarding partnership and an opportunity to help shape this further. They were interested in what institutions could offer too – such as training space and accomodation during the Games.  They even mentioned that teaching staff could be eligible.

With our own 2012 Apprenticeship programme coming along, and a network of industry-approved centres of excellence for TV across the country, we look forward to working with the OBS on this flagship programme and help give a generation of future media talent a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.