about
Pat Younge is an award-winning journalist and creative leader with a 30-year career working at major broadcasters in the UK and internationally, with his experience spanning network leadership, television production, commissioning, news, sport and digital, much of it at C-suite level.
Patrick Younge
Pat Younge is an award-winning journalist and creative leader with a 30-year career working at major broadcasters in the UK and internationally, with his experience spanning network leadership, television production, commissioning, news, sport and digital, much of it at C-suite level.
Pat is a former Chief Creative Officer of BBC Production, where he led the teams making some of the world’s biggest shows in factual, drama and entertainment programming including Top Gear, Strictly Come Dancing, Dr Who, Luther, Planet Earth 2 and Eastenders. Prior to that he was President/General manager of US cable network, Travel Channel Media, where he led a turnaround in ratings, revenue and reputation introducing shows like Emmy award winning ‘Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations’, and global break-out hit, ‘Man v Food’. His leadership culminated in the business securing a $1bn valuation in a successful JV transaction.
Currently a Non-Executive Director at ITV Studios Ltd, he is also a Founding Member of minority- orientated VC partnership, Impact X Capital, and an investor/director at audio/podcast powerhouse, Unedited. He manages his consultancy services and creative projects at his company, Skin In The
Game Studios Ltd, and he is Chair of the governing body of Cardiff University, his alma mater.
A digital evangelist, his Hack The Moon project was shortlisted for a Webby award in 2019. His digital consultancy has helped companies understand the impact and transformational potential of digital, with clients including Google and AXA. He is a regular speaker at conferences and events including TedX in Rome.
A Fellow of the Royal Television Society, he was selected for the ‘Powerlist’ of the 100 most influential Black people in Britain on six occasions before entering its Hall of Fame. In 2006 he made the top 20 in the powerlist of Minorities in US Cable. Awarded an Honorary D.Litt by the University of West London in 2022, he now chairs the British Broadcasting Challenge, a pressure group in support of UK Public Service Broadcasting.
Younge was raised in Stevenage, Herts, by his late mother, Reba, a late Windrush era immigrant from Barbados. He has two brothers, Wayne (58) and Gary (55). He has three children, Rebecca (28), Alex (26) from his first marriage, and Isaac (11) from his marriage to his wife, WBD Exec Amy Girdwood. His pastimes away from work include film, TV, watching sport – West Indies (cricket), Wales (rugby), Brazil and Brentford (football) are his teams along with whatever teams his children are playing for.