OLYMPIC EXPERENCE — Michael Burns, right, a Wintersville native, is getting a close-up view of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy, as he works with the production team with the “Today” show. -- Contributed

WINTERSVILLE — While television viewers around the globe will be watching the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, Michael Burns, a Wintersville native, will be getting a close-up view as he works with the production staff at NBC’s “Today” show.

The 2001 Indian Creek High School alum is part of the production management and logistics team. It’s his ninth Olympic assignment, and this one will find him in Milan and Cortina from Friday through Feb. 22, as athletes from around the world go for gold.

Burns is responsible for managing all the logistics for the show and working with every aspect to make sure it can go on air. The team handles all travel and transportation needs, including those for colleagues and guests, and Burns oversees the show runners (essentially interns) who aid with research, shopping, scouting locations, venue visits and set up. The team prepares for all aspects of the show, from making sure people are on the set on time, setting up the green room, helping with props, printing scripts and any last-minute changes. After the show ends, they are already formulating plans for the next day.

“I say we are like air traffic control for the show. We know where everything and everyone is at all times,” Burns said. “We arrive to the Olympics to an open office space and begin setting up the temporary space so we have a functioning news bureau while the team is on location. We work closely with the tech and engineering team to make sure they are making progress on set up to ensure we can broadcast.”

Despite the never-ending buzz of activity, Burns has always had an interest in television which began at a young age. The son of Bob and Kathie Burns of Wintersville, he recalled his days as a member of Indian Creek’s media clubs in junior and senior high, as well as the Odyssey of the Mind academic competition which promotes creativity, problem solving, teamwork, and more.

“I was always fascinated TV, news and live events, and when I got to college I realized there were other ways besides being on-air or a journalist to work in the media and events space. My senior year, I interned at the ‘Today’ show in New York City and found myself assisting the production management and logistics team regularly and really liked that side of the industry.”

He studied communication in college and ultimately obtained an undergraduate degree at Ohio University, a master’s degree at Texas State University and his Ph.D. at North Dakota State University. Burns spent a year working as a communication specialist at UPMC in Pittsburgh before heading back into the classroom, this time as a professor at Texas State University. After spending 10 years at TSU, Burns moved on to the University of Colorado-Boulder in 2023 and still teaches full-time, but he still remained rooted within the television industry.

“I have worked really hard to keep a foot in academia and a foot in industry. I think staying connected with industry makes me a better professor,” he explained.

His Olympic experience began while interning at “Today” in New York City while still a senior at OU. As Burns tells it, he gravitated toward the production management team and has continued working with them for the past 20 years.

“I joke that I have had the longest internship in the history of the world,” he quipped.

He traveled to the 2006 games in Torino, Italy, then on to Beijing in 2008; London in 2012; Rio de Janeiro in 2016; PyeongChang, South Korea, in 2018; Tokyo in 2020; back to Beijing in 2022 and, finally, to Paris in 2024.

“In Milan, I am on the production management team and work with everyone at the ‘Today’ show. Every day is different, but we arrive in the morning here in Milan and look what the folks in NYC did overnight and we start planning for the day, so that could be planning the guest pickup, shopping, adjustments because of weather, changes in schedule, making sure catering is ready, etc. I am usually at work 12 hours when the games actually start.”

Highlights of his Olympic experience included witnessing swimmer Michael Phelps win his eighth gold medal in Beijing; meeting former first lady Laura Bush, Snoop Dogg, and the many athletes who have appeared on the show; and watching snowboarder Shawn White see his family for the first time in the green room after winning gold in PyeongChang.

“There are so many amazing memories. To be honest, my favorite parts are the friends I have made around the world because of this gig,” he added.

When not assisting with the Olympic Games, Burns has aided with coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings, the 2009 floods in Fargo, N.D., and on remote at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. Throughout it all, he has relished this opportunity of a lifetime and encourages the next generation to aspire to their own dreams.

“Look for opportunities and try or say yes. Just show up. There are cool things happening at schools and universities everywhere and so many students just don’t go to the events. That is where you find opportunity,” Burns commented. “Also, reach out to alumni and ask to have a phone call or a coffee to learn about how they got where they are, that is true for any industry. Work on your conversation skills and get comfortable listening and asking questions. People are getting worse and worse at communicating, but this is how you stand out. Find ways to make yourself interesting; it is not interesting if you only have good grades. Work somewhere, do things and volunteer.”