Nicholas Corbishley Owen is an English television presenter and newsreader, best known for presenting the breakfast television programme TV-am and the BBC's local news show Midlands Today since 1997. He was also the chairman of Luton Town Football Club between 2008 and 2017. Early life and education Owen was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, to father Bertie, a headmaster and Dunkirk veteran, and mother Esme (née Burton), a music teacher. He was educated at Kingsland Grange Prep School, then Shrewsbury School between the ages of 13 and 18. While at Kingsland Grange, Owen borrowed a Cliff Richard record from Bob Warman, who later went on to become the longest-serving regional news presenter on ATV and Central in the Midlands. Also while there he would hand-write his own newspaper and take it to a copier to print, said to be his first experience of journalism. Owen completed his education at the University of Leeds where he obtained a BA (Hons) degree in Classics in 1970. Early career Owen's first job was as a graduate trainee on the Doncaster Evening Post. After two years Owen moved to a job at the Birmingham Post, where he reported on local news. He started working for the BBC's local radio station Radio Birmingham in 1973, as a news producer and later as sports editor. His first live broadcast was an early-morning news bulletin during the Les Ross show. Television career Owen joined ATV in 1978, where he worked as a sports reporter, commentator and presenter for ATV news. He covered the European Football Championships in 1980 and Owen also narrated the first two series of Bullseye, the darts show that was presented by Jim Bowen. He appeared on the programme in 1983 throwing darts for charity when he scored 177; the guest players at the time had a 60 point start. When ATV became Central TV on 1 January 1982 and brought in a new dual news service for the east and west Midlands. Owen and Anne Diamond were chosen to present the new Central News East, but neither presenter was ever seen on screen due to an industrial dispute at the new studios in Nottingham. For the rest of 1982 Owen returned to being Sports presenter on the Main West Edition and while in the summer 1982 provided commentated on the World Cup for ITV. Owen left Central in January 1983 to join TV-am as