Niall Paterson was born and raised in Alloway, in south-west Scotland — the birthplace of the poet Robert Burns — a hometown he references with evident pride. His date of birth, parents, and early personal life are not publicly documented. He describes himself as a man of few words when it comes to his private life.

After completing his A-levels, Paterson studied Law and Criminology at the University of Sheffield. He subsequently earned a Diploma in Broadcast Journalism from the Northern Media School, a BJTC-accredited institution, equipping him for a career in television journalism.

Paterson joined Sky News in 2004, initially working on the contracts desk. Over the following two decades he progressed through roles as producer, political correspondent, defence correspondent, media and technology correspondent, Scotland correspondent, and eventually main presenter.

As political correspondent he broke the story of Gordon Brown’s “bigoted woman” comments about voter Gillian Duffy during the 2010 general election campaign — one of the most defining political moments of that election. As defence correspondent he covered the fall of Libya and the bloodiest days of the Afghanistan conflict. As Scotland correspondent he reported on the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Returning to London, Paterson moved into presenting, fronting Sky News Today, The Early Rundown, election nights, News at Ten, and the Sunday morning politics slot. In November 2023 he launched Friday Night with Niall Paterson, a primetime weekly show airing every Friday from 7pm to 10pm. He also presents My King, My Country?, a documentary marking the accession of King Charles III. Paterson is believed to be married and to have at least one child, but has not confirmed any personal details publicly.