Pete Franklin

Pete Franklin (September 22, 1927 - November 23, 2004), nicknamed "The King" and "Pigskin Pete", was an American sports talk radio host who worked in Cleveland, New York and San Francisco. 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 multi-national listening audience.

Early Life and Career

Franklin was born September 22, 1927 in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. His first broadcasting job was for Armed Forces Radio, and his first radio station job was in 1952 in Oakdale, Louisiana. "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, Georgia, New Jersey, California and Texas, often as a disc jockey. He worked as operations director for WOIO in Canton, Ohio, before moving to WERE (1300 AM) in Cleveland in 1967 to host a sports talk show from 7 pm 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 ("3WE") 1100-AM (eventually renamed WTAM) from 1972 to 1987. Arguably the most popular host on the station, Franklin was popular based on his extensive knowledge, his opinionated attitude, his gruff demeanor and his rude banter toward callers. Among his trademarks were playing the sound of a flushing toilet after hanging up on a caller, playing of funeral music when he deemed the Indians' season to be over (giving them a "proper burial", usually in mid-summer given the poor quality of the Indians' team during that time), his running series of the winner and the loser of the day, 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 hosts on WTAM to this day).

His caustic personality was a primary reason why "3WE" lost its status as the flagship station of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers in 1981 when he developed a feud with team owner Ted Stepien. Franklin and Cavaliers' radio voice Joe Tait openly questioned Stepien's ability to operate the team following a series poor trades, unwise free agent signings and a depletion of talent. Franklin went so far as to continually refer to Stepien by his initials, "T.S.", which Franklin said stood for "Too Stupid." (Ultimately, the NBA itself agreed with this assessment, seizing operational control of the franchise from Stepien on the grounds he was destroying its financial viability, and instituting what would be known as the "Stepien Rule".) Stepien retaliated both by canceling WWWE's radio contract and firing Tait.

Later Career

In August 1987 Franklin announced he had been hired by upstart all-sports station WFAN in New York to be their afternoon host starting in September 1987. His initial contract with the station was for two years and paid him $600,000. Franklin's act wore thin in the Big Apple, where critics and callers alike disapproved of 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 program.

Franklin made a return to Cleveland and "3WE" in 1989. The station even held a press conference to herald his homecoming, but management dropped him after a year. He moved west, working at KNBR 680 AM in San Francisco from 1991 to 1997, and hosting his own show for much of that stint. Franklin's featured bits included "Winners and Losers of the Day" for daily sports happenings, while during football season he reprised "Pigskin Pete Predicts" from his Cleveland days. He later joined Bob Fitzgerald as co-hosts of The King and The Kid.

Franklin returned for a third time to the WTAM airwaves in 1998, briefly hosting Sportsline but from a studio in his California home. He joined KNBR's sister station KTCT 1050 AM in 1999, finishing his broadcasting career there in 2000.

Franklin was the author of a 1988 book, You Could Argue But You'd Be Wrong.

Death

Pete Franklin died November 23, 2004 in Nipomo, California after a long illness at age 77. He was survived by his wife, Pat, and two children.

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).
• Findagrave.com, Peter "The King" Franklin page, 10 May 2010 (retrieved 6 June 2011).
• New York Times, "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 6 June 2011).
• Tucker, Ken. Radio Monitor, "Sports Talk Pioneer Pete Franklin Dead At 77", 11 December 2004 (retrieved 6 June 2011).
• Vecsey, George. "SPORTS TO THE TIMES; Mad Dog Is A Preppie!", New York Times, 2 February 1991 (retrieved 6 June 2011).