Pete Franklin
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Pete Franklin (September 22, 1927 – November 23, 2004), nicknamed "The King", "Sweet Pete" and "Pigskin Pete", was an American
sports talk radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-a ...
host who worked in
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
and
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. He is widely credited with pioneering the more aggressive, acerbic and attention-grabbing form of the genre, which has since been adopted by generations of sports media personalities, and bringing it to a multinational listening audience.


Early life and career

Franklin was born September 22, 1927, in
East Longmeadow, Massachusetts East Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, situated in the Pioneer Valley region of Western Massachusetts. It had a population of 16,430 at the 2020 census. East Longmeadow is southeast of downtown Springfiel ...
. His first broadcasting job was for Armed Forces Radio, and his first radio station job was in 1952 in
Oakdale, Louisiana Oakdale is a city in Allen Parish, Louisiana, Allen Parish in south Louisiana, United States. The population was 7,780 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Oakdale was founded as "Dunnsville" by William T. Dunn. The history of Allen P ...
. "I worked 70 hours a week, and my main job was to get to the station early and kill the snakes with a baseball bat," he said of his Louisiana assignments. "They came out of the swamp to the heat of the generator. And I read the farm news. The glamour of show business." He later worked at radio stations in
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
, often as a
disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
. He worked as operations director for
WOIO WOIO (channel 19) is a television station licensed to Shaker Heights, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Media alongside The CW, CW affiliate WUAB (channel 43), Telemundo affiliate WTCL-LD ...
in
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, before moving to WERE (1300 AM) in Cleveland in 1967 to host a sports talk show from 7 to 11 PM, after which he hosted a multi-subject talk show from midnight until 5 AM.


WWWE in Cleveland

The zenith of Franklin's career came when he hosted ''Sportsline'' on 50,000-watt Cleveland AM station
WWWE WWWE may refer to: * WWWE (AM), a radio station (1310 AM) licensed to serve Decatur, Georgia, United States * WJZA (AM), a radio station (1100 AM) licensed to serve Hapeville, Georgia, which held the call sign WWWE from 1996 to 2023 * WTAM WTA ...
("3WE") 1100-AM (eventually renamed WTAM) from 1972 to 1987. Arguably the most popular host on the station, he was popular for his extensive knowledge, outspoken opinions, gruff demeanor and rude banter with callers. Among his trademarks were playing the sound of a flushing toilet as he cut off callers he considered offensive, playing funeral music when the
Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
were hopelessly out of contention for the season in question (thus giving them a "proper burial", usually in midsummer given their poor play at that time), his winner and the loser of the day preceded by appropriate introductory music for each, and boasting that his station's nighttime signal could be heard "over 38 states and half of Canada" (a claim still stated on air by WTAM talk-show hosts to this day). His caustic personality was a primary reason why "3WE" lost its status as the flagship station of the
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
's
Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...
in 1981 when he feuded with team owner
Ted Stepien Theodore John Stepien (June 9, 1925 – September 10, 2007) was an American businessman who owned the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1980 to 1983. Born in Pittsburgh in 1925, he became wealthy as the foun ...
. Franklin and Cavaliers' radio voice
Joe Tait Joseph Tait (May 15, 1937 – March 10, 2021) was an American sports broadcaster who was the play-by-play announcer on radio for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and both TV and radio for the Cleveland Indi ...
openly questioned Stepien's ability to operate the team after multiple poor trades and unwise free agent signings leading to a depletion of talent. He went so far as to refer to Stepien again and again by his initials, "T.S.", which Franklin said stood for "Too Stupid." Stepien retaliated by canceling WWWE's radio contract and firing Tait. Franklin popularized several regular callers by giving them nicknames like "The Swami", "The Prosecutor", and "Mr. Know-It-All". The latter, Mike Trivisonno, eventually became a radio host and became Franklin's full-time replacement.


Later career

In August 1987, Franklin announced he had been hired by upstart all-sports station
WFAN WFAN may refer to: * WFAN (AM) WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, with a sports radio format, branded "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New Y ...
in New York City to be its afternoon host starting the following month. His initial contract with the station was for two years and $600,000. But his act wore thin in the Big Apple, where critics and callers alike disliked his condescending style. New York Times columnist George Vecsey wrote that Franklin was a "so-called big name ... whose specialty was hurling insults at fans who knew vastly more than he did." After much controversy and dismal ratings, he resigned in July 1989 two months before the end of his contract, and was replaced by the ''
Mike and the Mad Dog ''Mike and the Mad Dog'' was an American sports radio show hosted by Mike Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo that aired in afternoons on WFAN in New York City from September 1989 to August 2008. From 2002 the show was simulcast on telev ...
'' program. He returned to Cleveland and "3WE" immediately afterward. The station even held a press conference to herald his homecoming. However, management dropped him after a year. He moved west, working at
KNBR KNBR may refer to: * KNBR (AM), a radio station (680 AM) licensed to serve San Francisco, California, United States * KNBR-FM, a radio station (104.5 FM) licensed to serve San Francisco, California {{Call sign disambiguation ...
680 AM in San Francisco from 1991 to 1997 and mostly hosting his show. He revived his "Winners and Losers of the Day" in sports, and his "Pigskin Pete Predicts" during the football season from his Cleveland days. He later joined
Bob Fitzgerald Robert James Fitzgerald (born 1966) is an American sports broadcaster who is currently the TV play-by-play announcer for the NBA's Golden State Warriors on NBC Sports Bay Area and was a co-host of the radio talk show ''Fitz and Brooks'' on K ...
as co-hosts of ''The King and The Kid''. Franklin returned for a third time to the WTAM airwaves in 1998, briefly hosting ''Sportsline'' from a studio in his California home. He joined KNBR's sister station
KTCT KTCT (1050 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to San Mateo, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a sports radio, sports radio format as KNBR 1050, a sister station to KNBR (AM), KNBR ...
1050 AM in 1999, and finished his broadcasting career there in 2000. His book entitled ''You Could Argue But You'd Be Wrong'' was published in 1988.


Death

Pete Franklin died on November 23, 2004, at age 77 in
Nipomo, California Nipomo (; Chumash: ''Nipumuʔ'') is an unincorporated town in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The population was 16,714 for the 2010 census and grew to 18,176 for the 2020 census. For statistical purposes, the United States ...
, after a long illness.Taaffe


Notes


References

* Dolgan, Bob
"Pete Franklin, the ultimate Cleveland sports talker: Life Stories Revisited"
''Cleveland Plain Dealer'', 10 December 2004, reprinted 2 June 2011 (retrieved 6 June 2011).

"SPORTS PEOPLE; Franklin Joins WFAN", 21 August 1987 (retrieved 6 June 2011). * Pluto, Terry. "Pete first, last word in sports; Franklin was pioneer in talk radio", ''Akron Beacon-Journal'', 10 December 2004.
SFGate.com
"Former KNBR talk-show host Franklin dead at 76", 10 December 2004 (retrieved 6 June 2011). * Taaffe, William
"The Mouth That Always Roars"
''Sports Illustrated'', 22 November 1982 (retrieved 28 August 2019). * Tucker, Ken

"Sports Talk Pioneer Pete Franklin Dead At 77", 11 December 2004 (retrieved 6 June 2011). * Vecsey, George

''New York Times'', 2 February 1991 (retrieved 6 June 2011). {{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Pete American sports radio personalities Deaths from lung cancer in California 1927 births 2004 deaths Radio personalities from Cleveland Cleveland Barons broadcasters Cleveland Browns announcers