The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty reports ESPN has named veteran TV executive Don Ohlmyer their ombudsman successor to Lee Anne Schrieber.
As the most-recognized brand in sports, ESPN is a frequent target of criticism, much of it justified. Schreiber and her predecessor, former Washington Post sports editor George Solomon (2005-07), did a good job of taking ESPN to task when warranted, but also defending the network against unjustified jabs.
Ohlmeyer will share his thoughts once a month in a column on ESPN.com. He has been an executive producer, producer, director and writer since 1967, retiring in 1999 as president, NBC West Coast.
Ohlmeyer is a curious choice for ESPN’s in-house ethical watchdog ; though he presided over an era of tremendous commercial success at NBC, his sports resume includes the ill-fated decision to place Dennis Miller in the “Monday Night Football” booth. Prior to that, Ohlmeyer ordered the removal of Norm Macdonald as anchor of “Saturday Night Live”‘s “Weekend Update”, said move coming on the heels of Macdonald poking fun at Ohlmeyer crony, O.J. Simpson.