Although Gyngell began his career in radio, in the 1950s he stepped into the arena of early television broadcasting, helping to set up Channel 9, the first commercial TV station in Australia.
His great-grandfather was the pyrotechnician for the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, while his grandfather, who settled in Australia, introduced cider-making to the continent.
He worked as a disc jockey for the ABC, and joined the University Air Squadron but the Korean War ended before he had a chance to participate.
[3] However, many people (possibly several hundred) had already appeared in television test broadcasts in Australia prior to Gyngell, including performer Alan Rowe, comedy duo 'Ada & Elsie', 'Happy' Hammond, and Graham Kennedy.
[3] Gyngell returned to the United Kingdom, where he become managing director at TV-am between Spring 1984 and 1992 and is credited with introducing the sofa format of breakfast television.
[5] The UK Conservative government introduced legislation which inadvertently led to the demise of TV-am; Gyngell received a personal letter of apology from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
On the station, an ITV franchise holder, Gyngell refused to run late-night programmes carried elsewhere on the network such as Hollywood Lovers which featured segments on such issues as genital plastic surgery.
[8] Upon Gyngell's death, the Prime Minister of Australia John Howard paid tribute to him, saying, "It's a big loss to the Australian television industry.