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Article snippet: Don Ohlmeyer, whose influential television career ranged from producing ABC’s “Monday Night Football” during its 1970s heyday to guiding NBC to No. 1 in prime time two decades later on the strength of programs like “Seinfeld” and “ER,” died Sunday in Indian Wells, Calif. He was 72. His family confirmed the death in a statement, saying the cause was cancer. Mr. Ohlmeyer, a cocksure, creative personality, was well known to NBC when it hired him in 1993 to resurrect its once-dominant entertainment division. After a decade as a disciple to Roone Arledge, the president of ABC Sports, Mr. Ohlmeyer had left to be executive producer of NBC Sports, then formed his own company, Ohlmeyer Communications, to produce sports and entertainment programs. Promised autonomy by Bob Wright, the president of NBC, Mr. Ohlmeyer evaluated the network’s prime-time assets: “Seinfeld” and “Law & Order” were not yet hits, “Cheers” was in its final season and “L.A. Law” was no longer a powerhouse. “When I got there, I used to say there was the smell of death,” he told the Archive of American Television in 2004. That did not last long. Carried along by new series like “ER,” “Friends” and “Frasier,” and the emergence of “Seinfeld,” NBC rose to No. 1 in prime time during the 1995-6 season. And in late night, the decision to help Jay Leno thrive as the host of “The Tonight Show” paid off. Mr. Leno had been chosen over David Letterman to succeed Johnny Carson, and Mr. Letterman’s new show on C... Link to the full article to read more