On Air 2026 will see 150 students take charge of the Media Talent Manifesto (MTM) broadcast’s 24-hour culture, news, sport, film, and kids channels on 22–23 October 2026.
From On Air 2026’s headquarters at the University of Westminster’s Harrow Media Campus, the 150 students will coordinate a global five-channel broadcast. This year, students will make editorial decisions and work across presenting, directing, cameras, sound, graphics, and playout, with industry professionals supporting the live production. The students will be joined by another 1,500 students expected to take part.
The 2025 project is now a finalist for Creative Innovation Project of the Year and Collaborative Team of the Year at the RTS Technology Awards 2026; the winners will be announced on 22 October.
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Carrie Wootten, Co-Founder, the Media Talent Manifesto, said: “Talent is everywhere, but opportunities to prove it are not. On Air gives students a real live production experience, with an audience beyond their own campus and professionals who are there to back them. That shared commitment from education and industry is what makes this possible on a global scale, with students at the heart of the production.”
Westminster students at Harrow will connect contributions from Auckland, Brisbane, California, Cape Town, Mumbai, and São Paulo. Among the participating institutions are the BRIT School, Morley College, and Ravensbourne University London, alongside Auckland University of Technology, AFDA, Whistling Woods International, Universidade de São Paulo, and City College of San Francisco. School, college, and university teams will work as part of one international production.
Students will take most presenting roles at Westminster. The announced presenting pairs include Suzie Cox, known as Vogue from the original Gladiators, with Mya Harris; Isabelle Baker with Jennifer Chatburn; and Urban Judge with Acacia Daniel. They will guide viewers through the live programming and link contributions from participating teams.
Appear, Cuez, Norsk, and Ross Video have joined On Air to support the production and its student teams. Other partners include Aski-Da Taldea, AWS, Clear-Com, CNN, dB Broadcast, Deluxe, disguise, Hitomi, Hotcam TV, IAMT, IBC, InSync, Into Film, IPLocker, Levira, MASV, Mimir, Platform Communications, Provys, SMPTE, SVG Europe, Tanooki, Techex, TVBEurope, Vizrt, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Zixi.
At IBC2026, On Air recently revealed the details behind its scaled initiative this year. Discover more here.
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