Donald Robertson (September 6, 1928 – January 8, 2021) was an American television announcer for the CBS television network. He was known as "The Voice Of CBS Sports", where he also voiced nearly every sporting event CBS had. Robertson also voiced the CBS network ID "This is CBS", along with promos for the sporting events that he would call.

Early life and career

Educated at

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

, he once sang in the glee club with Andy Griffith. After working as a radio reporter throughout high school and college, Robertson received a degree in communications in 1950. He went into the Air Force after college and served in Korea. In 1953, he left military service and returned to broadcasting, working for radio and television markets in North and South Carolina and Connecticut. Robertson once worked for WBTV-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina when he got his big break. In 1961, he had moved to WBT-AM, where "I think I was on the air all day," he said. He did news, weather and sports for a morning show, and hosted a mid-day interview show. He also did play-by-play sports announcing for

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

. Robertson was in New York announcing a basketball game between the college and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

when a producer with ''

CBS Sports Spectacular ''CBS Sports Spectacular'' is a sports anthology television program that is produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States. The series began on January 3, 1960, as ''The CBS Sports Spectacular'', a ...

'' invited him to auditions that were taking place while he was in town. About two days later, the station manager of WBT-AM came in and said, ‘Congratulations on your new job, Don.’ I didn't want them to know I was auditioning, but he said CBS had called to make sure it was okay to hire me. So that's how I found out I had a job with CBS," he said. Ultimately, Robertson then moved to

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

. Management there had decided they wanted one voice that viewers could associate with all their sporting events, and the voice they chose was his. As he advanced his career, Robertson also raised a family with his wife Mary, whom he married in 1951 after knowing her for six months.

CBS Sports

Throughout his career, Robertson worked with

Pat Summerall George Allen "Pat" Summerall (May 10, 1930 – April 16, 2013) was an American football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he announced major golf and tennis events. Summerall announ ...

and

Jack Whitaker John Francis Whitaker (May 18, 1924 – August 18, 2019) was an American sportscaster who worked for both CBS and ABC. Whitaker was a decorated army veteran of World War II. He fought in the Normandy Campaign and was wounded by an artillery stri ...

. He voiced the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, The Masters, and every golf and tennis tournament for which CBS had the rights.

References

External links

Don Robertson: The Voice of Happy Retirement

Donald Robertson Obituary (1928 - 2021) - Asheville Citizen-Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Don 1928 births 2021 deaths Radio and television announcers American sports announcers National Basketball Association broadcasters Major League Baseball broadcasters Motorsport announcers Association football commentators Tennis commentators Golf writers and broadcasters National Football League announcers Boxing commentators University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni National Hockey League broadcasters