Ohlmeyer began his career with
ABC Sports, where he worked on
Wide World of Sports, produced
Monday Night Football, and produced and directed three
Olympics broadcasts. He later moved to NBC as executive producer of the network's
sports division, a position he held from 1977 to 1982. Ohlmeyer is credited with conceiving the one-time experiment of airing a
1980 NFL telecast without
announcers.
Ohlmeyer formed his own production company, Ohlmeyer Communications, in 1982, and produced several made-for-television movies, network series, and specials. He won an
Emmy for
Special Bulletin, a harrowing 1983 depiction of nuclear terrorism.
Ohlmeyer returned to NBC in 1993 to become president of its West Coast division at a time when the network was in third place in the ratings, following the departure of
Cheers and
The Cosby Show from its lineup. During his tenure, NBC returned to first place with such hits as
Seinfeld, Friends,
ER,
Homicide,
Frasier,
Providence,
Will and Grace, and
Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Ohlmeyer also spearheaded NBC's adoption of an aggressive promotional campaign to
brand the network using such innovations as superimposing the Peacock logo in the corner of the screen and coining the phrase "
Must See TV."
During the
1997 World Series, Ohlmeyer caused a stir when he publicly wished that the
World Series would end in a four game sweep so that its low ratings wouldn't derail NBC's fall entertainment schedule.
Ohlmeyer retired from NBC in 1999 and was then hired by ABC to revamp
Monday Night Football. As executive producer, he made the controversial decision to hire comedian
Dennis Miller to join
Al Michaels and
Dan Fouts in the broadcast booth. He left
Monday Night Football after one season.
Currently, Don Ohlmeyer is a Professor of Television Communications at
Pepperdine University in
Malibu, California. He helped found the radio program "Making Waves," hosted by Steven Dhillon and produced by Keith Adam which is broadcast on 101.5 KWVS.
