Don Elliot Heald

{{Short description|American broadcaster (1922–2009)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}} '''Don Elliot Heald''' (1922 – February 19, 2009) was an American broadcaster and broadcast executive. He was most known for his tenure as general manager of WSB-TV, the leading television station in Atlanta, and as the voice of time station WWV and the Audichron system used by time-and-temperature phone numbers in hundreds of cities.

==Early career and time at WSB-TV== Heald was born in 1922 in Concord, Massachusetts, and attended the University of Florida. There, he worked at the university's radio station, WRUF, and got into broadcasting.<ref name="Atla090222">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-don-elliot-heal/175988642/|date=February 22, 2009|page=B7|title=Don Elliot Heald, 86, former TV anchor, GM|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|first=Phil|last=Kloer|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref> While at WRUF, the station manager encouraged him to drop his last name and go by Don Elliot on air, which he later regarded as a mistake.<ref name="Atla550212">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-don-elliots-today/176015184/|date=February 12, 1955|page=3|first=Paul|last=Rawlings|title=Don Elliot's 'Today in Georgia': Atlanta's Own Video Shows Keep Pace With Networks|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref> He graduated from the university and became an employee of a new Atlanta radio station, WCON, which began broadcasting on December 15, 1947; in 1949, he was promoted to news editor.<ref name="Atla490630">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-don-elliot-name/176016714/|date=June 30, 1949|page=26|title=Don Elliot Named WCON News Head|newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref>

In 1950, ''The Atlanta Constitution'', owner of WCON, merged with ''The Atlanta Journal'', which shut down WCON in favor of keeping the ''Journal''{{'}}s WSB.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20885568/|date=May 31, 1950|page=1|work=The Atlanta Constitution|title=WCON Will Cease Operations Tonight|access-date=February 21, 2020|archive-date=October 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027174927/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20885568/wcon-radio-ceases-operations/|url-status=live}}</ref> Heald joined the staff of WSB's affiliated television station, starting as an announcer and being promoted to news editor the next year.{{r|Atla580112}} Among the programs he hosted was ''Today in Georgia'', a 9 a.m. morning program produced when WSB-TV sought not to air an hour of NBC's ''Today'' that was targeted at western states.{{r|Atla550212}} In 1958, Heald was promoted to sales manager of WSB-TV and began using his full name again.<ref name="Atla580112">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-wsb-staff-changes-e/175988598/|date=January 12, 1958|page=14-D|title=WSB Staff Changes: Elliott, Moore, Others Promoted|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal and Constitution|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref> Heald was appointed station manager in 1963<ref name="Atla630901">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-two-given-new-posts/176015498/|date=September 1, 1963|page=6-A|title=Two Given New Posts In Cox Broadcasting|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal and Constitution|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref> and, along with all the general managers of Cox Broadcasting stations at that time, was named a vice president in 1969.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Cox Names 3 Execs Veeps and 10 Others Get Their Chevrons|work=Variety|date=September 24, 1969|page=51|id={{ProQuest|1014855387}} }}</ref> In 1974, Heald anchored WSB-TV's newscasts during a labor dispute.<ref name="Atla740208">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-union-calls-strike-a/176016508/|date=February 8, 1974|page=4-A|title=Union Calls Strike At WSB Radio, TV|first=Bob|last=Goodman|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref><ref name="Atla740209">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-notice-to-all-w/176017134/|date=February 9, 1974|page=2-B|type=Advertisement|title=Notice to All WSB-TV Friends|newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref>

Under Heald, WSB-TV hired the first Black reporter on Atlanta television news and, later, the first Black evening news anchor, Monica Kaufman Pearson.{{r|Atla090222}} For most of this time, WSB-TV was Atlanta's top television station, only finding itself in a three-way ratings battle in the late 1970s when its network, NBC, faltered in the national ratings.<ref name="Atla790527">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-nbc-peacock-mol/176018121/|date=May 27, 1979|pages=1J, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-wsb/176018134/ 4J]|title=NBC Peacock Molts, But WSB Unruffled|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal and Constitution|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref> In 1979, Heald announced his intention to retire in 1980, to coincide with 30 years with the WSB stations.<ref name="Atla790926">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-wsb-tvs-heald-to-qu/176018243/|date=September 26, 1979|page=20-A|first=Dick|last=Williams|title=WSB-TV's Heald to Quit in '80|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref> He left the WSB-TV post at the end of 1979 but remained a vice president of Cox Broadcasting.<ref name="Atla800331">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-no-mawkish-tribute/176004826/|date=March 31, 1980|page=11-B|first=Dick|last=Williams|title=No Mawkish Tribute: Don Elliot Heald 'Roast' Mixed With Humor, Insults|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref>

==Voiceover work== Heald's voice was used by Audichron, an Atlanta-based company, as the voice of time-and-temperature phone services in cities throughout the United States and beyond. In 1971, an Audichron representative estimated that 12 million calls a day were fielded by equipment in 600 cities using recordings of Heald's voice.<ref name="Tucs710310">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/tucson-citizen-youve-heard-don-elliot-h/176016360/|date=March 10, 1971|page=29|title=You've Heard Don Elliot Heald's Voice—Time After Time After Time|newspaper=Tucson Daily Citizen|first=Paul|last=Allen|location=Tucson, Arizona|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref> Heald was one of several Atlantans who recorded material for the firm; other voices used by Audichron included Jane Barbe and John Doyle, a WSB-TV weatherman.<ref name="Atla760420">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-helllooo-its-jane/176017341/|date=April 20, 1976|page=6-A|first=Ron|last=Taylor|title=Helllooo: It's Jane Barbe, the Woman Behind the 'Telephone Lady'|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref> Heald's voice was on Audichron equipment used by the National Bureau of Standards atomic clock broadcast on shortwave station WWV; WWVH, the time station in Hawaii, used Barbe's voice.<ref name="Morn780514">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-news-knowing-the-exact-time/176005427/|date=May 14, 1978|pages=C-1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-news-time-it-is-vital-righ/176005473/ C-14]|first=Sid|last=Moody|agency=Associated Press|title=Knowing the exact time is really of the essence|newspaper=The Morning News|location=Wilmington, Delaware|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref><ref name="Nelson 2019"/> In 1991, when the magnetic drum Audichron equipment was replaced with solid-state hardware utilizing digitized recordings, Doyle's voice replaced Heald's on WWV.<ref name="Nelson 2019">{{Cite journal |last=Nelson |first=Glenn K. |date=September 24, 2019 |title=A Century of WWV |url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/jres/124/jres.124.025.pdf |journal=Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology |language=en |volume=124 |article-number=124025 |doi=10.6028/jres.124.025 |issn=2165-7254 |pmc=7339760 |pmid=34877165}}</ref>

Heald was the longtime voice of ''The Protestant Hour'', a long-running Atlanta radio ministry program which debuted in 1945. Heald became its announcer in 1948 after being recruited initially to do the Episcopal segments as a member of a local church.<ref name="Atla931211">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-the-protestant-hour/175988859/|date=December 11, 1993|page=E8|title=The Protestant Hour: Long-running radio ministry broadcast nears 50th anniversary|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal/Constitution|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref>

==Post-retirement ventures== After retiring, Heald became an investor alongside Herman J. Russell and M. B. "Bud" Seretean in Russell-Rowe Communications, which won a construction permit to build a new television station in Macon, Georgia and, under another name, applied for channel 8 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Heald was named president of the Macon station,<ref name="Atla811002">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-journal-don-elliot-heald-nam/175991835/|date=October 2, 1981|page=9D|first=Tom|last=Walker|title=Don Elliot Heald named chief of new TV station in Macon|newspaper=The Atlanta Journal|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref> which began broadcasting as WGXA on April 21, 1982.<ref name="Maco820422">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100168508/new-macon-tv-station-goes-on-air/|date=April 22, 1982|page=1B|first=Steve|last=Bills|title=New Macon TV station goes on air|newspaper=The Macon News|location=Macon, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 21, 2022|archive-date=April 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421080224/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100168508/new-macon-tv-station-goes-on-air/|url-status=live}}</ref> With Heald, Russell and Seretean in advanced age, the partners sold the station in 1995.<ref name="Maco950222">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107075010/nc-company-buying-wgxa/|date=February 22, 1995|page=1B|first=Mike|last=Billips|title=N.C. company buying WGXA|newspaper=The Macon Telegraph|location=Macon, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=August 6, 2022|archive-date=August 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806205946/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107075010/nc-company-buying-wgxa/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Heald was also involved in charitable ventures, including as president of the Peach Bowl<ref name="Atla840223">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-insurance-execu/176018588/|date=February 23, 1984|page=19-A|first=Scott|last=Thurston|title=Insurance executive to push his game plan for Peach Bowl|newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref> and as chairman of the board of the American Cancer Society.<ref name="Atla860103">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-reach-out-miss/176018680/|date=January 3, 1986|page=3-B|title=Reach Out: Miss Georgia applications due Jan. 15|newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution|location=Atlanta, Georgia|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 6, 2025}}</ref> Heald was credited with convincing the society to relocate its national headquarters from New York City to Atlanta in 1987.{{r|Atla090222}}

== Personal life and death == Heald died of congestive heart failure on February 19, 2009, in Atlanta. He was survived by his wife, Sara Farmer Heald, as well as three sons and seven grandchildren.{{r|Atla090222}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Heald, Don Elliot}} Category:1922 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Telephone voiceover talent Category:University of Florida alumni Category:American television executives Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:People from Concord, Massachusetts