Owen joined
ATV in 1978, where he worked as a sport 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 commentated on the
World Cup for
ITV. Owen left Central in January 1983 to join
TV-am as a sports presenter. After six weeks the station was in turmoil and
Greg Dyke was brought in as director of programmes. Dyke moved Owen to become a main presenter of
Good Morning Britain from 5 April 1983 and he was soon teamed up with Anne Diamond until 1986, when he left. During this time, he appeared as himself in Episode 6 of the comedy series
Hot Metal. Having left TV-am in the summer 1986, he then became the main presenter for
ITV Sport, remaining with them until 1992, presenting
Midweek Sport Special and ITV's coverage of the
1988 Olympic Games,
Euro 88 and the
1990 World Cup as well as the game show
Sporting Triangles. Owen also hosted TV game show
Hitman. From 1992 to 1996 he co-presented
Good Morning with Anne and Nick on
BBC One. ==Luton Town==