William Peter Francis (born 1947) is a New Zealand broadcaster, author and sports administrator.

Life and career

Francis was born in

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

, where he attended

Wairarapa College Wairarapa College is a state coeducational secondary school located in Masterton, New Zealand. The college first opened in 1938, following the merger of Wairarapa High School with the Masterton Technical School. Serving Years 9 to 13, the college ...

. After leaving school he started as a cadet journalist with Radio 2XB in Masterton in 1965. He worked as a sports journalist in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

and

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

before moving to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 1983 to become sports editor of the new Newstalk 1ZB. Ten years later he was promoted to general manager of Talk Programming for

The Radio Network New Zealand Media and Entertainment (abbreviated NZME) is a New Zealand newspaper, radio and digital media business. It was launched in 2014 as the formal merger of the New Zealand division of APN News & Media, APN New Zealand; The Radio Ne ...

, with a principal responsibility for Newstalk ZB and

Radio Sport Radio Sport (previously Sports Roundup) was a New Zealand sports radio radio network, network and the talk radio, talkback sister network of Newstalk ZB. It held commentary rights for most cricket matches, international and domestic rugby uni ...

. Francis is a director of

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...

. He has served as chief executive of the Radio Broadcasters Association, and chairman of the New Zealand Radio Awards Committee and the Radio Industry Research Committee. He has been on the board of the Advertising Standards Authority and a member of the New Zealand Music Performance Committee and the Online Media Standards Authority Complaints Board. He has also served as a director of

New Zealand Cricket New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket operates the New Z ...

and Auckland Cricket and as a trustee of the Auckland Cricket Development Fund. He is the chairman of the board of the

Northern Stars Northern Stars are a New Zealand netball team based in South Auckland. Since 2017 they have competed in the ANZ Premiership. The team was named after the Matariki star cluster which is also featured on the team's logo. They were grand finalist ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

team. In the

2016 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2016 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, Francis was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

, for services to broadcasting and cricket.

Books

*''A Handbook for Sports Bodies Dealing with the Media'' (1982) *''Promote Your Sport: The Media Handbook for New Zealand Sport'' (1992) *''And Then There Were Ten: The Francis' of

'' (1997) *''Inside Talk Radio'' (2002) *'' ZB: The Voice of an Iconic Radio Station'' (2006) *''

Tom Lowry Thomas Coleman Lowry (17 February 1898 – 20 July 1976) was a New Zealand Test cricketer. He Captain (cricket), captained the New Zealand cricket team, New Zealand team in its first seven Test cricket, Test matches, in 1930 and 1931. Lowry f ...

: Leader in a Thousand'' (2010) *'' Sir John Graham: Sportsman, Master, Mentor'' (2011) *''The Team That Never Played: Wahine and the 1968 Otago University Cricket Team'' (2013, with Ronald Cardwell) *''Cricket's Mystery Man: The Story of Sydney Gordon Smith: West Indies, MCC, New Zealand'' (2014) *'' Peter Montgomery: The Voice of Yachting'' (2015) *''A Singular Man:

Bevan Congdon Bevan Ernest Congdon (11 February 1938 – 10 February 2018) was a New Zealand cricket all-rounder who played 61 Test matches and 11 One Day Internationals from 1965 to 1978, which included a spell as captain. Captaincy He was captain of the ...

'' (2017) *''In Pursuit of Excellence: The

Barry Sinclair Barry Whitley Sinclair (23 October 1936 – 10 July 2022) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played 21 Test matches for New Zealand national team as a specialist batsman from 1962–63 to 1967–68, and captained the team from 1966 to 1968. ...

Story'' (2018) *''Second Only to Bradman: The Life of

Stewie Dempster Charles Stewart Dempster (15 November 1903 – 14 February 1974) was a New Zealand Test cricketer and coach. As well as representing New Zealand, he also played for Wellington, Scotland, Leicestershire and Warwickshire. Early life Born to a Sco ...

'' (2019) *''Talent to Burn: Mark Burgess'' (2020) *''"Tails" to Tell: The Bruce Taylor Story'' (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Bill 1947 births Living people People from Masterton People educated at Wairarapa College New Zealand broadcasters Cricket historians and writers New Zealand biographers New Zealand cricket administrators Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand justices of the peace