McGivern was born in Felling, attended St Cuthberts Grammar School. and studied philosophy at Durham University. He worked for a time at the Peoples Theatre in Newcastle (q.v.) and then at BBC Newcastle. McGivern pioneered music hall comedy on local radio and after WWII rose to become BBC controller of programmes. he founded Panorama in 1953 and a Sunday Times article in that year called him Mr Television. He was passed over twice for the top job at the BBC and left to join Granada. Lord Briggs calls him the most important man in the history of the medium.
McGivern wrote a number of plays, including one in dialect in 1937.