donald winfred "don" ohlmeyer jr. (february 3, 1945 – september 10, 2017) was an american television producer and president of the nbc network's west coast division. he was born in new orleans, louisiana. he was a professor of television communications at pepperdine university in malibu, california. he served as ombudsman for espn.com for 18 months; that term ended in january 2011.