Eric Young: Biography, Age, Wife, Son, TVNZ
May 31, 2024Eric Young (born November 1961) is a New Zealand journalist and television presenter. He is best known for presenting Prime News since March 2006 and has spent many years covering sports and current affairs.
The award-winning journalist worked as a sports journalist on newspaper, radio, and TV3 before moving to Prime News. He spent 45 years in journalism and almost 35 years on TV.
| Eric Young | |
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| Quick Facts | |
| Name: | Eric Young |
| Born: | November 1961 (age 62 years old) |
| Place of birth: | Taranaki |
| Nationality: | New Zealander |
| Occupation: | Newsreader, journalist, broadcaster |
| Spouse: | Michelle |
| Children: | Alfie |
Early Life
Eric Young was born in November 1961 in Taranaki, a coastal region west of New Zealand’s North Island. Growing up, he loved and played cricket to a reasonable standard.
Career
Award-winning broadcaster Eric Young joined radio in the early 80s. He later started working for the now-defunct Auckland Star newspaper. He moved to TV3 following its launch in 1989.
Eric has been the presenter of News First on Prime (now Sky Open) since 2006. He was a co-presenter on the YVNZ news show Tonight and a reporter for ESPN in Singapore.
His contributions to the broadcast industry earned him three awards in 2008. He was the host of Prime’s coverage of the 2012 Olympics.
Eric has also bagged the New Zealand Sports Writer of the Year and New Zealand Sports Broadcaster of the Year. He received the Sports Broadcaster of the Year at the 1994 New Zealand Sports Journalist of the Year Awards.
Young worked as an editor of SKY Sport: The Magazine. His work earned him the Sports Journalist of the Year in 2008. He has also written many articles and columns on sports for The Auckland Star.
Eric was the narrator and interviewer of Underarm: The Ball that Changed Cricket in 2019 and presenter of the 2012 London Olympic Games. He also presented the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games and Tight Five in 1999.
The broadcaster wrote This is Your Life – Lance Cairns in 1999 and was a newsreader on TVNZ’s late-night news show Tonight. He presented the TV show Game of Two Halves from 1999 to 2002. He presented Prime’s ICC Cricket World Cup Breakfast Show.
Eric became the night news anchor on Prime News in 2006 and hosted Breakfast, a New Zealand TV programme. He was a sports presenter on Newshub from 1989 to 1995 and a newsreader for TV One News from 2002 to 2005.
Personal Life
Eric Young is married to a lawyer and gallerist, Michelle. He shares a son, Alfie, with his wife. He will stand down from journalism when News First at 5.30 pm ends in 2024 to be the primary caregiver for his son.
The longtime broadcaster had a five-hour surgery to repair a faulty valve in 2017, days after his 56th birthday. It was a series of surgeries that made him spend seven days in Mercy Hospital in Auckland, two of them in intensive care.
Young has a home in the Titirangi bush in West Auckland. He is a cat lover and like to travel with his wife.
