| Bill Francis | |
| Birth Name: | William Peter Francis |
| Birth Place: | Masterton, New Zealand |
| Occupation: | Sports journalist and broadcaster |
William Peter Francis (born 1947) is a New Zealand broadcaster, author and sports administrator.
Francis was born in Masterton, where he attended Wairarapa College. After leaving school he started as a cadet journalist with Radio 2XB in Masterton in 1965.[1] [2] He worked as a sports journalist in Hamilton and Dunedin before moving to Auckland in 1983 to become sports editor of the new Newstalk 1ZB.[2] Ten years later, he was promoted to general manager of Talk Programming for The Radio Network, with a principal responsibility for Newstalk ZB and Radio Sport.[1]
Francis is a director of Radio New Zealand.[3] 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.[1] He has also served as a director of New Zealand Cricket and Auckland Cricket and as a trustee of the Auckland Cricket Development Fund.[1] He is the chairman of the board of the Northern Stars netball team.[4]
In the 2016 New Year Honours, Francis was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to broadcasting and cricket.[5]
The Voice of an Iconic Radio Station (2006)
Leader in a Thousand (2010)
Sportsman, Master, Mentor (2011)
The Voice of Yachting (2015)