George Donikian Biography
George Donikian is a former radio and television news presenter/personality from Australia. He has previously worked for SBS, Nine Network, and Ten Network.
How old is George Donikian? – Age
He is 71 years old as of 15 December 2022. He was born in 1951 in Sydney, Australia.
George Donikian Family – Education
His father was a Greek Armenian who immigrated to Australia from Athens in 1949, followed a year later by his fiancée. He was up speaking Greek, Armenian, and Turkish and did not learn English until he was seven years old. Donikian found his calling in sports, specifically soccer, despite his father’s wishes for him to become a doctor or a barrister.
George Donikian Radio
Donikian began his media career in the mid-1970s as an announcer for radio station 4AM in far North Queensland, then moved on to 2WL in Wollongong. During his radio career, Donikian was ordered to go by the surname “Donekan,” with his supervisors arguing that his original name was too difficult to pronounce and recall, and that the alias sounded more “acceptable” Irish surname “Donegan.” In 1979, he transferred to 2WS. Then he responded on Adelaide’s Radio FIVEaa. In 2004, he covered the Athens Olympics for Melbourne commercial radio.
George Donikian SBS World News – Career
George began his career in television in 1980 after he impressed Bruce Gyngell during a chance encounter. Gyngell saw in George the ideal presenter for his multi-cultural I.M.B.C. television Network, which first launched in Melbourne and Sydney in 1980. After that, he worked as a newsreader for the Nine Network and Ten News before becoming a presenter for SBS World News. In 1988, Donikian was the host of the first Ethnic Business Awards, which is a national business award that celebrates migrant and Indigenous excellence in business.
When George first appeared on Ten News in 1991, he did the weeknight newscast by himself before Nikki Dwyer joined him the following year. After being assigned to the weekend national evening bulletin as a result of a reorganization of Ten’s newsroom, he left Network Ten in September 2011 and became a “free agent.”
Steve Vizard, a comedian, parodied him in a number of skits on the Fast Forward comedy sketch show due to his popularity.