Bob McNeil is a New Zealand radio and television journalist who worked for TV3 for over 20 years.[1] He was born in Wellington in 1943 to parents Neil and Jean McNeil, and his childhood was spent in St Bathans, North Otago, Okato, Taranaki, Waipukurau, Hawkes Bay and back to Hawera, Taranaki. After leaving school, he first worked for the Taranaki Daily News in New Plymouth, but because of rugby commitments, left to work in a dairy factory for a year. He then attended Palmerston North Teachers College from 1961-1962, and subsequently taught school for 7 years.
He met his future wife Jeanette in 1967 during his OE in the UK, and they later married when they returned to New Zealand in early 1969. He then taught for 2 years at Devon Intermediate in New Plymouth. He gave up teaching at the end of 1970 and took a job at Radio Waikato in Hamilton, where his three children, Matthew, Sacha and Nick were born between 1973 and 1977. He covered the Springbok tour protests there in 1981 while working at 1ZH. In 1987, he moved to 1ZB radio in Auckland.
After 19 years, he left radio behind in 1989 to join the new TV3 Television channel, and worked there for over 20 years as a news journalist until his retirement aged 67 in 2010.
He wrote an autobiography titled News Travels, published in 2014.[2]
He is the father of television presenter Sacha McNeil.