Fred Dinenage

Frederick Edgar Dinenage[1] MBE (born 8 June 1942) is a British author, broadcaster and television presenter. His television career has spanned nearly 60 years, including the long-running children's programme How and ITV's regional programming in the south of England. Dinenage retired from presenting regional news on ITV Meridian on 16 December 2021, after 38 years as a news anchor.[2][3]

Fred Dinenage

MBE
Fred Dinenage in 2013
Born
Frederick Edgar Dinenage

(1942-06-08) 8 June 1942
Birmingham, England
EducationPortsmouth Grammar School
Occupation(s)Journalist and broadcaster
Years active1964–present
EmployerITV Meridian
Known forPresenting How, How 2, ITV News Meridian
Spouse
Beverley Summers
​
(m. 1967)​
Children3; including Caroline

Early life and education

Dinenage was born in Birmingham.[4] He was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School.[5]

Career

Dinenage has appeared as presenter of many British television programmes (many of them produced by Southern Television, and its successors TVS and Meridian Broadcasting), such as Tell The Truth, How and its successor How 2, as well as the BBC quiz show Pass The Buck and Gambit (produced by Anglia).

News anchor

Dinenage began his career at Southern Television in 1964, as a presenter on Three Go Round, a part-networked children's programme, alongside actress Diane Keen and future television producer Britt Allcroft.

He later moved onto the station's local news magazine programme, Day By Day, as a reporter and presenter. In later years, he concentrated on sports coverage, hosting the programme's weekly South Sport feature.

Dinenage transferred from Southern to TVS in January 1982, chiefly as a sports presenter and reporter, working on Coast to Coast, Sportshow and The Saturday Match. The following year, he took over from Khalid Aziz as the main anchor for the South edition of Coast to Coast, co-presenting alongside Christopher Peacock, Fern Britton, Debbie Thrower and Mai Davies.

After TVS lost its franchise, Dinenage was retained by Meridian as anchor for the South edition of Meridian Tonight and other non-news regional programmes. His co-anchors included Debbie Thrower, Natasha Kaplinsky, Jane Wyatt and, from 2009, Sangeeta Bhabra with whom he presented pan-regional editions of the show.

In October 2021, it was announced that Dinenage would step down from ITV, after 38 years as a news anchor in the south of England.[6] His final edition of ITV News Meridian aired on 16 December 2021.

Other work

Dinenage spent a brief period in the late 1970s covering regional sport for Yorkshire Television. He also appeared as a relief presenter of the networked ITV Saturday afternoon show, World of Sport - a role which earned him an appearance on the children's Saturday show Tiswas. He also has his own weekly column featured on the magazine of the Southampton local newspaper, Southern Daily Echo.

Alongside his television career, Dinenage has written several factual books, including ghosting on autobiographies My Story and Our Story for the Kray twins. He is a keen football follower and was on the board of directors at Portsmouth between 1998 and 2007.[7] He was a team captain on the ITV game show Never Had It So Good, shown in 2002. He also narrated Driver's Eye Views for railway filming company "Video 125".

In February 2014, he celebrated his 50th anniversary as a reporter and presenter with ITV, announcing that he hoped to continue broadcasting into the future. Fred Dinenage: Murder Casebook, a crime documentary series on 20th century murders was first broadcast on the Crime & Investigation Network in 2011.[8] He has also narrated Most Evil Killers for Pick since 2017.

Dinenage was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours, for services to broadcasting.[9]

On 16 October 2020, it was announced Dinenage would appear in a new series of How, alongside Vick Hope, Sam Homewood and Frankie Vu.[10]

In June 2023, it was announced Dinenage would join BBC Radio Solent to present on Saturdays afternoons for six weeks during the summer. His first show was on 17th June.

Family

Dinenage's second daughter Caroline (born 1971) is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Gosport (elected at the 2010 general election[11]). She served as the Digital and Culture Minister between February 2020 and September 2021.

References
  1. Dinenage, Fred (21 July 2007). "Fearne and Reggie". BBC Radio 1 (Interview). Interviewed by Fearne Cotton.
  2. "Fred Dinenage steps down as TV news anchor after 38 years". BBC News. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  3. "Fred Dinenage to leave ITV Meridian after nearly four decades". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  4. "Record Transcriptions: England and Wales births 1837-2006". Find My Past.
  5. "Hampshire Heritage - Fred Dinenage". Southern Daily Echo, Southampton. 20 June 2007. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  6. "Fred Dinenage steps down as main presenter on ITV News Meridian". Press Centre. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  7. "Redknapp trial 'waste of money'". BBC News. 8 February 2012.
  8. "About - Fred Dinenage: Murder Casebook". Crime and Investigation. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  9. "No. 59446". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 2010. p. 15.
  10. "The new HOW presenters are…". Press Centre. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  11. "Dinenage to succeed duck house MP as Tory candidate". BBC News. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2011.

Further reading
  • Dinenage, Fred (1 October 2020). "Your Daily Dinenage". In Burns, Marion (ed.). Reporting Coronavirus: Personal Reflections on a Global Crisis from ITV News Journalists. ITV Ventures. ISBN 978-1910332160.
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