CART Adds NBC's Ohlmeyer to Board of Directors
15 January 1999
DETROIT - Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. Chairman and CEO Andrew Craig announced Thursday that television executive Don Ohlmeyer has been appointed a member of the Company's Board of Directors.Ohlmeyer is president, NBC West Coast and oversees the activities of all of the NBC Television Network's entertainment-related businesses, including NBC Entertainment, NBC Studios and NBC Enterprises. Ohlmeyer's leadership has emphasized attention to detail in the development, promotion and presentation of quality programming that has attracted the largest possible broadcast audiences, major industry awards and critical acclaim. Programs such as ER, Friends and Frasier have debuted during his tenure.
Under his leadership, NBC ranked first in all key ratings categories for the third straight year in 1998 and outperformed its closest competitor by 35 percent among adults 18-49 - a record advantage for any network.
"I am delighted to join with Championship Auto Racing Teams to build this great motorsports property," said Ohlmeyer. "CART has a clear and focused vision to grow its open-wheel racing throughout the world and I'm honored to become a part of CART's team."
Ohlmeyer joined NBC as executive producer of sports in 1977 from ABC, where he had served as producer and director of three Olympic broadcasts, produced Monday Night Football and worked extensively on ABC Wide World of Sports. He worked on several sports projects over the next several years, including NBC's NFL and college basketball properties.
In 1982, Ohlmeyer left NBC Sports to form Ohlmeyer Communications Company (OCC), a full-service advertising agency and marketing firm as well as a television consulting operation for clients such as the NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball.
At OCC, he served as executive producer for a variety of creative projects ranging from sports events to dramatic motion pictures for television. OCC produces all CART FedEx Championship Series race broadcasts for television, which air on ABC and ESPN in the United States.
"Don is one of the recognized innovators and leaders in the television industry and we are extremely pleased to have him agree to help in the growth of CART and our racing properties," said Craig. "His expertise in all aspects of business, and particularly television, is a welcome addition to CART's Board of Directors. In a time when television in general, and sports television in particular, is faced with more challenges than ever before, it's comforting to know we have a person with the stature and vision of Don on our team."
Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc., owns, operates and sanctions North America's leading open-wheel motorsports series - the FedEx Championship Series, which includes 20 races in five countries in 1999. It also is the owner and sanctioning organization for North America's top two open-wheel preparatory series - the PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship and the KOOL/Toyota Atlantic Championship.