Clive's first major television appearance came in 1988, hosting the first series of Whose Line Is It Anyway? for Channel 4. In 1989 Clive presented the first series of his own comedy chat show Clive Anderson Talks Back, also for Channel 4, which ran for 10 series before transferring to the BBC in 1996 as Clive Anderson All Talk.

His television credits include the successful Our Man In… series for the BBC; hosting the Olivier Awards, the Bafta Craft Awards and the Evening Standard Film Awards; standing in for Terry Wogan on BBC One's Wogan; and writing and presenting Just for Laughs for Channel 4. He has also presented Every Picture Tells a Story and Great Railway Journeys (China to Hong Kong) for the BBC.

For radio he has hosted The Cabaret Upstairs and chaired Whose Line Is It Anyway?, both for BBC Radio 4, with other broadcasting credits including Time Cycle, The News Quiz, Unreliable Evidence and The Devil's Advocate. For Radio Five Live he has presented a series of profiles entitled The Real… His subjects have included Gordon Brown, George Bush and Jesus Christ.