‘Always curious,’ this Boise TV journalist is signing off after decades
Don Nelson will board a flight to Seattle the day after he signs off for the final time as a senior reporter for KIVI-TV Idaho News 6 on Thursday.
He is set to receive the Silver Circle award from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences following a devoted career in radio and television that has spanned five decades.
For the final 32 years of that career, Nelson has been delivering the news to homes across Boise and the Treasure Valley, building a reputation as a trusted and genuine source on a litany of topics.
Nelson took a job with Idaho News 6 in 1994 and said he didn’t initially intend to stay long.
But Boise captured his heart. It’s where he met his wife, built a family and became a mainstay in local television journalism.
“My intentions were to come here for two or three years and then move on to another market,” Nelson said. “Maybe Portland, Seattle, California. ... But I got to tell you, this place, I just fell in love with it. I was here maybe two weeks, and I’m like, ‘I don’t think I’m gonna move.’”
From radio to TV, from Colorado to Idaho
After graduating from the American Academy of Broadcasting in Philadelphia, Nelson’s journalism career began in 1980 with a small radio station in Rifle, Colorado.
He later worked for Colorado radio stations in Greeley and Craig before moving into television with KREX in Grand Junction in 1986.
“I never took the TV job to be on TV. When I was working in radio, the last station I worked at in Craig went dark,” Nelson said. “ ... Did I always look at being on TV as another avenue? Absolutely. But I never went to TV to be on TV. It just worked out that way.”
When Nelson arrived in Boise in 1994, he teamed up with then-anchor Claudia Weathermon, proving a dynamic team — Whether it was live broadcasts, serious segments or something more lighthearted, such as the “Don, does it work?” series, which saw Nelson test products and give them a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down.
“I think people can denote his sincerity and that he’s there for them,” Weathermon said. “He’s not there to be a star or to ever make it about him. I think he was there working for them, and that is a timeless quality to have that’s enduring. He wasn’t flashy. He was steady.”
Throughout his career, Nelson’s interviews have spanned the gamut. From U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, to NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Kramer to everyday Idahoans, who each “have a story to tell,” Nelson has heard the stories.
Even his interview with Ellen DeGeneres lives on in Idaho News 6 lore — after DeGeneres, known for being a bit of a germaphobe, “dissed” him on a high-five.
“Don really enjoyed being out there talking to people,” said Roland Beres, a senior reporter with Idaho News 6. “He loves meeting people and learning new things, and that’s the mark of a great journalist, is someone who’s still curious and always curious about things, and that’s Don.”
While Nelson may be stepping away from the camera, he has every intention of remaining active in the community he loves. He plans to volunteer for Meals on Wheels and to drive veterans to medical appointments at the VA. And you may catch him on the golf course.
“We’re gonna miss him like crazy. We really are,” Beres said. “He’s a guy who always brightens up whatever room he’s in, and it’s hard to replace that. It’s hard to replace his ability as a journalist. He has such a long history in this marketplace and knows everybody, and to lose that is tough.”
