Media students making live sports broadcast for TV 2
– The most enjoyable and educational experience during our internal practice period - was the verdict from the 30 media students who got the unique chance of producing live sports broadcasts from the under-19 Norwegian Volleyball Championships in Volda.
Studentene fikk god trening i å kommentere kampene – kanskje bor det en framtidig sportskommentator blant disse?
Associate professor Steinar Høydal previously worked for the national broadcaster TV 2 before taking up a position in the Journalism Department at Volda University College. But this time it was his students who would make professional live broadcasts to be shown on the TV 2 platforms.
Right next door to the VUC media building is the large and beautiful sports hall Volda Campus SpareBank1 Arena that was the venue for the Norwegian Volleyball Under-19 Championships in the weekend of March 13-15, 2026.
All matches over the course of the weekend were live-streamed on TV 2's sports platform MyGame. Throughout the weekend, two courts were filmed, commented, produced and broadcasted by students from the BA in Journalism and BA Media Production. The students interviewed players and coaches and made professional TV broadcasts from this national sports event.
– The production was at a high professional level. We delivered a product that TV 2 was pleased with, and that received praised by the organisers and participants in the tournament. All in all it was a great success, says Associate Professor Høydal.
Tested out new technology
A total of 30 students were involved in the TV-production, including some exchange students from VUC's partner institutions abroad. A brand new fiber-connection between the sports arena and the VUC media building was used, which meant that the students could sit in the VUC media building and edit the broadcasts in the control room filled with screens.
– It was really great to use the new fiber connection and to see that it worked perfectly, says Høydal.
On one court in the sports arena, the media production students were in charge. With five cameras, they were able to cover the matches from multiple angles and to get audio input during timeouts and interviews.
– On another court, the journalism students filmed games with mobile phones. At peak times we had eight mobile cameras in use and managed to create great multi-camera broadcasts. It was a very useful test of a mobile rig, says Høydal.
The organizers of the national championships, KFUM Volda volleyball, were very pleased with the collaboration with VUC and the product delivered by the media students.
– This was the most sophisticated filming of volleyball games in Norway in recent years, apart from perhaps international matches, boasts Arne Humberset of KFUM Volda.
Volda students cover main sports events
Høydal does not hide the fact that there was a lot of work involved in this project – both for students and staff, but the work bore fruit and was well worth it in the end.
– The students were very engaged and several came up to me and said: “This is the coolest practical excercise we've ever had”.
Høydal was also pleased with the output for the students.
– The students say they have learned a lot from this experience and this matches my own observations, seeing the students go through a very steep learning curve and gaining valuable learning outcomes.
The journalism program at VUC has a long tradition of producing broadcasts and content for major sporting events. In the past, they have worked for the UCI World Cycling Championships in Bergen, the FIS Ski Flying World Championships in Vikersund, the National Indoor Athletics Championships in Ulsteinvik, and last year the students produced content for the big screens at the Granåsen ski stadion in Trondheim during the FiS Nordic Skiing World Championships.
Practical experience is the trademark of VUC
Earlier this year, journalism students also created content for the organizer of Femundløpet, a famous dog sled racing event in Norway.
These sports events come on top of all the other practical training that the media students get during their studies. The BA Journalism program contains three internal practice periods where students produce content for the in-house TV/Radio-station and the online newspaper – all of which can be found under the website of Nærnett. In addition, the students do an external placement in the last semester of the degree, where they can work in well-known media outlets across Norway.
– The practical training is very important for the media programs. What the students do during these practice periods, in this case examplified through the Norwegian Volleyball Championships, is something they cannot learn in the classroom. They have to go out and try it in real life, to work with a high pulse when things go a bit fast, and thus come away with valuable and fun learning experiences, says Høydal.
Volda University College is known for precisely that, for placing a high value on the practice periods in the media programs. Students have access to state-of-the-art equipment and are given much freedom to use the equipment, to try, fail and to be creative.
– We sometimes get questions from colleagues at other institutions about how we manage to include so much practical training and how we can afford it. Our simple answer is that we HAVE to prioritize this because it is our trademark. At VUC, we do our best to ensure that students learn as much as possible and are well prepared for the demands of working life, smiles Høydal.
