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

Life and career

Francis was born in

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

, 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 colleg ...

. 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: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

and

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

before moving to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

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 merger of APN New Zealand (a division of APN News & Media), the Radio Network (formerly part of ...

, 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 (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...

. 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 ...

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 rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

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 r ...

, 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 international cricketer. He was New Zealand's first Test captain, and led the team in their first seven Test matches between January 1930 and August 1931. He played 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 two-year spell as captain. Captaincy Congdon was c ...

'' (2017) *''In Pursuit of Excellence: The Barry Sinclair 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 cricket team, New Zealand, he also played for Wellington cricket team, Wellington, Scottish cricket ...

'' (2019) *''Talent to Burn: Mark Burgess'' (2020) *''"Tails" to Tell: The Bruce Taylor Story'' (2021) *''True to the Spirit of Cricket'' (2024; on

Don Neely Donald Owen Neely (21 December 1935 – 16 June 2022) was a New Zealand cricket historian, administrator and player. He served as president of New Zealand Cricket and wrote or co-wrote over 30 books on New Zealand cricket. Early life Neely wa ...

)

References

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