American Television Producer, Executive. He was best known not only for being the producer of ABC's Monday Night Football during the 1970s, but also as the executive who helped lead NBC's "Must See TV" revival in the 1990s. He graduated from Notre Dame University in 1967 and began his television career at ABC, working on the network's "Wide World of Sports". He later became the producer of "ABC's Monday Night Football and produced ABC's broadcasts of three Olympic games (1972 Summer, 1976 Winter and Summer). He also produced the network's high gloss event specials like "Battle of the Network Stars" and "Superstars". He moved over to NBC in 1977 and was the executive producer for their sports division until 1982. During his tenure in this position, he not only produced the network's broadcasts of the Super Bowl and World Series, but also created new sports-related programming and brought new innovative broadcasting techniques to the network. He went on to leave the network in 1982 and created his own production company that focused on television movies and sports specials. He produced such 1980s programs as "Special Bulletin", "Crime of Innocence", "Bluffing It" and ABC's "Crime of the Century" specials. He returned to NBC in 1993 as president of their west coast division. It was in this position where the network's standing in the ratings went from third place to first place during the 1990s with such shows as "Seinfeld", "Friends", "ER", "Frasier", "Mad About You", "Law & Order", "Just Shoot Me", and "Will & Grace". During his tenure at NBC, he also created a controversy when he had Norm Macdonald removed from the "Weekend Update" anchor slot on "Saturday Night Live" in 1998. After leaving NBC in 1999, he returned to Monday Night Football (it had switched from ABC to ESPN) as producer for one year in 2000 and later was a ombudsman for ESPN from 2009 to 2011. He received numerous awards and honors through the years for his career achievements. He also taught courses at Pepperdine University and took up painting later in life.
American Television Producer, Executive. He was best known not only for being the producer of ABC's Monday Night Football during the 1970s, but also as the executive who helped lead NBC's "Must See TV" revival in the 1990s. He graduated from Notre Dame University in 1967 and began his television career at ABC, working on the network's "Wide World of Sports". He later became the producer of "ABC's Monday Night Football and produced ABC's broadcasts of three Olympic games (1972 Summer, 1976 Winter and Summer). He also produced the network's high gloss event specials like "Battle of the Network Stars" and "Superstars". He moved over to NBC in 1977 and was the executive producer for their sports division until 1982. During his tenure in this position, he not only produced the network's broadcasts of the Super Bowl and World Series, but also created new sports-related programming and brought new innovative broadcasting techniques to the network. He went on to leave the network in 1982 and created his own production company that focused on television movies and sports specials. He produced such 1980s programs as "Special Bulletin", "Crime of Innocence", "Bluffing It" and ABC's "Crime of the Century" specials. He returned to NBC in 1993 as president of their west coast division. It was in this position where the network's standing in the ratings went from third place to first place during the 1990s with such shows as "Seinfeld", "Friends", "ER", "Frasier", "Mad About You", "Law & Order", "Just Shoot Me", and "Will & Grace". During his tenure at NBC, he also created a controversy when he had Norm Macdonald removed from the "Weekend Update" anchor slot on "Saturday Night Live" in 1998. After leaving NBC in 1999, he returned to Monday Night Football (it had switched from ABC to ESPN) as producer for one year in 2000 and later was a ombudsman for ESPN from 2009 to 2011. He received numerous awards and honors through the years for his career achievements. He also taught courses at Pepperdine University and took up painting later in life.
Bio courtesy of: Wikipedia
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