Jane Yee

Jane Yee is a broadcaster and media producer based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Best known for her role as a television presenter on music channels M2 and C4, Yee is often cited as one of a handful of Asian New Zealanders regularly on screen in the 2000s. Following stints in radio and music publicity, she became a prominent podcaster and was Head of Podcasts at The Spinoff between 2020–24.

Yee is a first-generation New Zealander born to a Chinese father and British mother. Her father was among the refugees who fled Southern China during World War II, and was only six years old when he arrived in Aotearoa on board the Awatea in 1941. The youngest of five girls, Yee was born after her father relocated from Taradale to the East Auckland suburb of Mt Wellington, to work as a market gardener with her grandfather and uncle.

Yee studied communications at Auckland University of Technology. In 1999, while still at AUT, she was fast-tracked into a radio internship at alternative music network Channel Z, before going on to produce its breakfast show (hosted by Jon Bridges and Nathan Rarere) and work as an on-air presenter. During the same period, Yee was offered to audition for TVNZ’s M2, a new all-night music channel, where she appeared as a VJ and show host between 2001–03 — an opportunity she was “really fortunate” to gain because she “was literally a nobody with no experience at that point.”

A version of MTV for New Zealand audiences, M2 aired on TV2 from midnight until 6am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. In addition to presenting music videos in tandem with other VJs including Nick Dwyer, DJ Sir-Vere, P-Money and Teuila Blakely, Yee fronted Squeeze, a weekly half-hour series which profiled New Zealand musicians and covered music news and events. Taking over from previous host Francesca Rudkin in 2001, Yee joined Squeeze as it was transitioning to a single subject, documentary format, and she was instrumental in the show’s new direction as its presenter and researcher, contributing to its scripting, filming and editing. She was also among the back-up presenters for Space on TV2, a late-night music show dedicated to interviews, music videos and live studio performances.

After Squeeze’s final episode, which aired late 2004, and the end of M2 in early 2003, Yee was invited to screen test for C4. Launched in 2003 by competing network Mediaworks, C4 had replaced M2 as the only youth music channel on free-to-air TV. When lead host Jacqui Brown left the C4 in 2005, Yee joined the channel, co-hosting both Homegrown, a weekly local music series, and Special Features, a weekly magazine show, with Clarke Gayford until 2007, when programming was restructured through “a cull of music shows and presenters...to become a more general youth entertainment platform.”

On being one of the faces of music television, Yee reminisced in a 2022 podcast episode that “it was an amazing time to work in New Zealand music television, highlighting New Zealand music, and just meeting the musicians and spending time with them,” and that back then “the New Zealand music scene was extremely vibrant, it was really celebrated; New Zealand Music Month meant something.” In 2007, she also featured in a major mental health awareness campaign for The Lowdown, a Ministry of Health-backed website providing online support services for young people. Asian New Zealanders in music and the arts, including Kristen Ng and Alice Canton, have recognised Yee’s high profile on television and in the media as inspiring their own identity journeys as Chinese New Zealand artists.

Yee moved into a publicity role at Universal Music New Zealand in 2008 before giving birth to her first child in 2012, followed by twins in 2014. Around this time she began writing and podcasting as a freelancer, notably for Stuff as the author of ‘The Girls’ Guide’ (2009–12), a blog which won Best Online Commentary/Blog at the 2011 Canon Media Awards; and later as a parenting columnist (2013), also for Stuff, and as parenting commentator on Newstalk ZB’s ‘The Weekend Collective’ show (2018).

In 2015, Yee joined online magazine and news website The Spinoff as a writer and podcaster, and as a producer was Head of Podcasts from 2020 until moving into the role of Partnerships Multimedia Lead in 2024. During this period she was most active as the co-host of The Real Pod. Yee’s brainchild, the podcast was a Silver Medal winner in the Best Entertainment & Comedy Podcast category at New Zealand Podcasts Awards in 2021. Recorded weekly between 2015–23, it focused on recaps of reality TV shows such as The Bachelor, The Block and Celebrity Treasure Island — the latter which Yee appeared on as a contestant in 2023. She also hosted the podcasts Breeder’s Digest (parenting), Remember When... (nostalgia), This is Kiwi (an interview series in collaboration with Kiwibank), alongside managing The Spinoff’s podcast network.

In 2025, Yee became Head of Podcasts at The New Zealand Herald.

Jane Yee at The Spinoff

Jane Yee on NZ On Screen

As presenter:

2023–2024 — This is Kiwi podcast, The Spinoff
2021 — Remember When... podcast, The Spinoff
2017–2019 — Breeder’s Digest podcast, The Spinoff
2005–2007 — Special Features TV series, C4 Music
2005–2007 — Homegrown TV series, C4 Music
2001–2003 — M2/TVNZ

As presenter/producer:

2015–2023 — The Real Pod, The Spinoff
1999–2005 — Channel Z radio network

As presenter/researcher:

2001–2004 — Squeeze TV series, M2/TVNZ

As writer:

2009–2012 — ‘The Girls’ Guide’ blog, Stuff

2021 — New Zealand Podcasts Awards, Silver Medal – Best Entertainment & Comedy Podcast (The Real Pod podcast)

2011 — Canon Media Awards – Best Online Commentary/Blog (‘The Girls’ Guide’, Stuff)