BBC’s Rosie Nieder Wins RTS Young Technologist Of The Year 2026

The Royal Television Society (RTS) has selected Rosie Nieder, an Operational Production Engineer at the BBC, as the 2026 RTS Young Technologist of the Year. The accolade, created to promote education in the science, technology and art of television and related fields, is presented in memory of A.M. Beresford-Cooke. Nieder was chosen by an industry jury chaired by independent consultant Terry Marsh and will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to IBC2026.

Nieder joined the BBC via a postgraduate apprenticeship in broadcast engineering, training within the broadcaster's location operations team and gaining experience on outside broadcasts before moving into her current role. During her training, she led and introduced innovations to vision engineering plans for Traitors: Uncloaked and Radio 2's Piano Rooms and In Concert, and contributed to programmes including Springwatch and Winterwatch. Since completing her apprenticeship, she has also supported integration projects such as renewing the Radio Theatre's gallery system.

She completed her apprenticeship with a distinction and earned a commendation from the Royal Aeronautical Engineering Society for her end-point assessment. Beyond her day job, Nieder has demonstrated production techniques at The Big Bang Fair, mentors new BBC apprentices and sits on the organisation's shortlisting team for recruiting emerging industry talent.

The runner-up for the RTS Young Technologist of the Year Award – and recipient of the Coffey Award for Excellence in Technology 2026 – is Michael Grace, Platform Support Engineer at Red Bee Media. Grace began in student radio before joining Red Bee Media as a Broadcast Engineer in playout for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Alongside daily engineering support, he produced and reviewed diagrams and guides to support ITV's channel migration to a new IP-based playout platform. He now tackles issues that have reached air by introducing new wiring, processing cards and routing options to safeguard high-profile output for viewers.

Terry Marsh, Chair of the RTS Young Technologist of the Year Award Jury, stated: "The standard of this year's finalists was exceptionally high, making the judges' decision a challenging one. Rosie stood out through her combination of technical excellence, innovation, and clear potential to make a significant contribution to the future of our industry."

Nieder commented: "I'm thrilled to be named the RTS Young Technologist of the Year for 2026. Receiving this award is a huge honour, and I'm incredibly grateful to the RTS and the judging panel for this recognition. I'd like to thank the incredible team at the BBC, who have supported me throughout my postgraduate apprenticeship, and continue to help me develop in my current role. I'd also like to thank my partner, family, and friends for their unwavering support, encouragement, and belief in me throughout this journey. I am excited to continue building my career in this ever-evolving industry, and I hope to use the opportunity this award provides to help inspire the next generation of broadcast engineers and support more young people as they begin their own journeys in our industry."

The RTS Young Technologist Award was established with funds from the family of A.M. Beresford-Cooke to honour his role in advancing British broadcasting technology through work on towers and masts for very high frequency (VHF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF) transmission.

At this year's awards ceremony, the RTS also welcomed Rhuanedd Richards as Chair of the Student Television Awards.