Warner Bros. Discovery has revealed two custom-built studios in the Italian Alps that will serve as its broadcast hub for European coverage of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. The media giant’s main facility, ‘WBD House’, is situated in Cortina d’Ampezzo’s Nations Village, while a second studio, the ‘Snow Dome’, has been built in Livigno.
WBD House is a 600-square-metre, two-storey structure featuring 217 pieces of steel and glass. It incorporates high-resolution exterior cameras to showcase panoramic views of the Dolomites and nearby Olympic venues, including the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre and the new Cortina Sliding Centre. The studio will deploy 12 cameras, including jib, drone, RF and Steadicam units, plus three exterior XR cameras for virtual set extensions. A crew of 90 will support productions targeting audiences in Italy, Germany, Poland and Norway, with additional teams from France, the Netherlands, Denmark and the UK on site.
The Snow Dome in Livigno is a six-metre-high domed structure with 95 square metres of space and 360-degree mountain views. Built in collaboration with the local organising committee, the studio will cover freestyle skiing and snowboard competitions. The Italian studios complement WBD’s permanent facilities across Europe, including its mixed-reality curve studio in London and production hubs in Paris, Milan, Munich, Madrid, Oslo, Stockholm, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Hilversum and Warsaw.
Scott Young, executive vice-president at WBD Sports Europe, said: “As the home of the Olympics in Europe, our ambition is to provide viewers with an authentic taste of Italy through the most immersive production possible. Our studios will deliver a truly unique viewing experience to fans while maximising opportunities for our expert presenters and reporters to get even closer to the action while telling the stories of the incredible athletes competing.”
WBD has assembled an extensive roster of Olympic talent for the Games, including alpine skiing medalists Tina Maze, Viktoria Rebensburg, Johan Clarey and Kristian Ghedina; six-time Olympic luge gold medalist Natalie Geisenberger; bobsleigh champion Kevin Kuske; cross-country skiing champion Justyna Kowalczyk-Tekieli; and ice hockey medalists Håkan Södergren and Mats Sundin. Olympic snowboarder Aimee Fuller and former freestyle skier Elisa Nakab will report from Livigno. The first live studio broadcast from Italy aired on 6 February, with competition running from 4 to 22 February. HBO Max and Discovery+ will stream every event live; Eurosport will provide pan-European television coverage, and TNT Sports will broadcast in the UK and Ireland.
