Don Brinton entered broadcasting in 1950 at radio station CFYK, Yellowknife. Following 13 years with CFRN TV/Radio in Edmonton, he became Vice-President and Manager of CFQC-TV, Saskatoon.

He joined CanWest Broadcasting in 1975 and played a key role in the launching of CKND-TV Winnipeg where he became the station's President and Chief Executive Officer in 1979. In l984, he took on the added responsibility of Sask West Television. Following retirement, Brinton became a consultant to the CanWest Global System.

Prominently active in industry affairs, Don served as Chairman of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters for the term 1983-84. He is a Past-President of the Broadcasters Association of Manitoba and the Western Association of Broadcasters. In 1983, he was acclaimed the WAB Broadcaster-of-the-Year, and in 1987 received the CAB's Distinguished Service Gold Ribbon. His multi-award winning "CKND Drama Project" won him the first Quebec-Alberta Prize for Innovation in the Art of Television and earned CKND the title of "Canada's Most-Honoured Station".

Don Brinton was inducted into the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1994.