George Donikian
Encyclopedia
Radio career
George commenced his media career as an announcer with Radio station 4AM in far North QueenslandQueensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
in the mid 1970s, and was soon lured in a southerly direction and arrived at 2WL in Wollongong, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
.
George then moved to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
's newest commercial station 2WS
2WS
101.7 WSFM is a FM band radio station broadcasting in Sydney, Australia. Its main content is commercial music, in particular classic hits from the 1960s to the Early 2000s, with a greater focus on the 70's, 80's and 90's...
in 1979, where he performed as an announcer, news presenter and sports reporter.
He has been at the helm for a number of talk back radio stints on Radio FIVEaa
FIVEaa
5AA , is 50% owned by dmg Radio Australia and Lachlan Murdoch's company Illyra, and Adelaide's only commercial talkback radio station. The station has a range of programs including news, sport, current affairs, social issues, gardening, lifestyle, cars, travel and health...
in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
.
George covered the opening ceremony and the Athens Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
for Melbourne commercial radio in 2004.
Television career
George's televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
career began in 1980, when during a chance meeting he impressed Bruce Gyngell
Bruce Gyngell
Bruce Gyngell was a hugely influential Australian television executive, prominent for 50 years in both Australian and U.K. television. Although Gyngell began his career in radio, in the 1950s he stepped into the arena of early television broadcasting, helping to set up Channel 9, the first...
, who saw him as the ideal presenter for his multi cultural I.M.B.C television Network which launched in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Sydney in 1980.
SBS
The network quickly evolved into the Special Broadcasting ServiceSpecial Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
, where, as the first news presenter, he read the critically acclaimed SBS World News
SBS World News
World News Australia is the news service of the Special Broadcasting Service. Its flagship nightly bulletin is broadcast at on SBS One with additional weeknight 'late' bulletins at on SBS One...
, for the first eight and a half years. During his time at SBS, he hosted a number of special events for the Multicultural network and also called four seasons of NSL
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...
football plus a host of other sports.
Nine Network
Leaving SBS midway through 1988 to join the Nine NetworkNine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
, George featured on the Wide World of Sports, Sports Sunday, Graham Kennedy
Graham Kennedy
Graham Cyril Kennedy, AO was an Australian radio, television and film performer, often called Gra Gra and The King of Australian television.-Childhood:...
's Coast to Coast, the National Nine Morning News
National Nine News
Nine News is the news service of the Australian Nine Network.Nine News's flagship bulletin is the nightly 6:00pm localised bulletin, produced by networked owned-and-operated stations in Sydney , Melbourne , Brisbane and Darwin alongside localised bulletins produced by the WIN-owned Nine Network...
bulletin and the Today
Today (Australian TV program)
Today and Weekend Today are Australian breakfast television programmes, the show is often referred to as The Today Show. The show has been broadcast live by the Nine Network each morning since 1982...
. While at Nine in Sydney, George also freelanced as morning news presenter on the top rating radio 2DAY FM and did a number of Talkback Radio stints with Radio 2GB
2GB
2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia broadcasting on 873 kHz, AM. It is one of Australia's most popular talk-back radio stations, and is the number one station in Sydney.-History:The station commenced broadcasting in August 1926...
as a stand in for John Tingle
John Tingle
John Saxon Tingle is a former Australian politician. Born in Edgecliff, New South Wales, he was a broadcaster and news editor at Deniliquin from 1949 to 1951 before becoming a journalist for the ABC from 1951 to 1968. During that time he was Supervisor of ABCTV News and Chief of Staff of the ABC...
.
George also played a part in Nine's commentary team for the 1988 State of Origin
Rugby League State of Origin
State of Origin is an annual best of three series of rugby league football matches contested by the Maroons and the Blues, who represent the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales respectively...
rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
series, then again during the Test Series England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
versus Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in the same year, and was on hand in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
to cover the 1990 World Cup
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...
Soccer Finals in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, both for the Nine Network and Sydney radio.
Network Ten
Donikian joined Adelaide's Ten NewsTen News
Ten News is the national news service of Network Ten in Australia. The majority of its news bulletins are presented from the TEN-10 studios in Pyrmont...
in January 1991. In 2000, George moved to Melbourne, to pioneer ADS10's digital news service from the Ten's Studio's at the Como Centre in South Yarra.
As well as presenting the Ten News at Five
Ten News
Ten News is the national news service of Network Ten in Australia. The majority of its news bulletins are presented from the TEN-10 studios in Pyrmont...
weekday news for Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
Adelaide, George has also been a "national" weekend news presenter for over 5 years, presenting weekend bulletins from the Sydney studios in Pyrmont, for Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Adelaide and Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
.
For a number years he was a fill-in replacement from Mal Walden
Mal Walden
Mal Walden is an Australian journalist and television news presenter based in Melbourne.Walden is currently presenter of Melbourne's Ten News at Five with Helen Kapalos....
in Melbourne's Ten News at Five
Ten News
Ten News is the national news service of Network Ten in Australia. The majority of its news bulletins are presented from the TEN-10 studios in Pyrmont...
and he presented a shortened news bulletin on Saturdays during Ten's AFL coverage. Donikian presented Ten News at Five
Ten News
Ten News is the national news service of Network Ten in Australia. The majority of its news bulletins are presented from the TEN-10 studios in Pyrmont...
Adelaide with Rebecca Morse
Rebecca Morse
Rebecca Morse is an Australian journalist and news presenter.Morse is currently presenter of Adelaide's Ten News at Five Monday to Thursday....
until they were replaced by Belinda Heggen
Belinda Heggen
Belinda Heggen is an Australian journalist and news presenter.Heggen is currently presenter of Adelaide's Ten News at Five on Friday....
. In 2011, he was appointed Melbourne's Ten News at Five
Ten News
Ten News is the national news service of Network Ten in Australia. The majority of its news bulletins are presented from the TEN-10 studios in Pyrmont...
presenter with Helen Kapalos
Helen Kapalos
Helen Kapalos is an Australian television news presenter.Kapalos began her career in her hometown of Newcastle, New South Wales, as a reporter for ABC Radio in 1994, before moving to television on SBS in Sydney...
with Mal Walden
Mal Walden
Mal Walden is an Australian journalist and television news presenter based in Melbourne.Walden is currently presenter of Melbourne's Ten News at Five with Helen Kapalos....
moving to Ten Evening News
Ten News
Ten News is the national news service of Network Ten in Australia. The majority of its news bulletins are presented from the TEN-10 studios in Pyrmont...
however this new format only lasted until April.
In April 2011, Ten News at Five
Ten News
Ten News is the national news service of Network Ten in Australia. The majority of its news bulletins are presented from the TEN-10 studios in Pyrmont...
was extended to 90 minutes and George was appointed presenter of Ten News at Five
Ten News
Ten News is the national news service of Network Ten in Australia. The majority of its news bulletins are presented from the TEN-10 studios in Pyrmont...
with Helen Kapalos
Helen Kapalos
Helen Kapalos is an Australian television news presenter.Kapalos began her career in her hometown of Newcastle, New South Wales, as a reporter for ABC Radio in 1994, before moving to television on SBS in Sydney...
on Fridays (with Mal Walden
Mal Walden
Mal Walden is an Australian journalist and television news presenter based in Melbourne.Walden is currently presenter of Melbourne's Ten News at Five with Helen Kapalos....
presenting with Helen Kapalos
Helen Kapalos
Helen Kapalos is an Australian television news presenter.Kapalos began her career in her hometown of Newcastle, New South Wales, as a reporter for ABC Radio in 1994, before moving to television on SBS in Sydney...
on Mondays to Thursdays). He also presented Ten Evening News
Ten News
Ten News is the national news service of Network Ten in Australia. The majority of its news bulletins are presented from the TEN-10 studios in Pyrmont...
on Weekends at 6:00pm.
In September 2011, after more than 20 years with Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
he resigned from the network to look for a new chapter in his career.
Other roles
Donikian had a role as a guest presenter on Tonight Live With Steve VizardTonight Live With Steve Vizard
Tonight Live with Steve Vizard was a nightly Australian comedy chat show broadcast on Seven Network in Australia. It was a one hour live studio based show broadcast nationally 5 nights a week from February 1990 to November 1993, usually commencing at 10.30 pm every week night...
on Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
, as a stand in for host Steve Vizard
Steve Vizard
Stephen William Vizard, born 6 March 1956 in Richmond, Victoria, is an Australian media personality, comedian, businessman and writer.-Early life:...
. Co presenter and reporter on the special 3 network coverage of the bi-centennial celebrations (SBS joined the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
and the Nine Network to create the program Celebration of a Nation 1988). Donikian also occasionally does a bit of comedy work for Channel 10's AFL Program 'Before The Game'. On his return from Greece in October 2004, was elected President of South Melbourne FC
South Melbourne FC
South Melbourne FC is a football club based in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.Considered the most successful association football club in Australia, they have won four national championships, a string of Victorian State League titles, and represented Oceania in the 2000 FIFA Club World...
(South Melbourne Hellas) based at Bob Jane Stadium at Albert Park
Albert Park and Lake
Albert Park and Albert Park Lake are situated in the City of Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of the Melbourne CBD....
. He remained in the position until the end of that season when he stepped down.