Franklin Mieuli
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Franklin Mieuli | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 14, 1920 San Jose, California, U.S. |
| Died | April 25, 2010 (aged 89) Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Education | University of Oregon |
| Occupations | Former owner of Golden State Warriors, minority co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers and the San Francisco Giants |
| Parents |
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Franklin Mieuli (/ˈmjuːli/ MEW-lee; September 14, 1920 – April 25, 2010) was a San Francisco Bay Area radio and television producer who was best known as the principal owner of the San Francisco / Golden State Warriors from 1962 to 1986.[1] The pinnacle of his 24 years with the franchise was its National Basketball Association (NBA) Championship in 1975. He was also a minority shareholder in both the San Francisco 49ers and Giants.
An eccentric personality, Mieuli eschewed formal attire and conservative grooming in favor of a casual wardrobe and his ever-present full beard and deerstalker. His preferred mode of transportation was the motorcycle.[2]
Mieuli died in Oakland, California at age 89 due to natural causes.[3]
Mieuli, the second son of Italian immigrants from Castellana Grotte, Apulia, was born in San Jose, California on September 14, 1920. His father Giacomo[4] and older brother Jack Jr. owned and operated Navlet's Nursery in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area).
Mieuli graduated from San Jose High School in 1940 and the University of Oregon with a bachelor's degree in 1945.[5][6]
In the early 1950s, Mieuli was the local promotions man for Burgermeister Beer ("Burgie"). His association with the 49ers led him to land the team's star fullback, Joe "The Jet" Perry, on his own sports and music radio program, "Both Sides Of The Record", sponsored by Burgie, on R&B-formatted KWBR (1310 AM; later known as KDIA) beginning in 1954.
Mieuli also produced the 49ers radio broadcasts on KSFO beginning in the 1950s, and produced the first televised 49ers game in 1954. He subsequently produced Giants radio broadcasts, hosted by Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons upon the team's move from New York by owner Horace Stoneham in 1958.
Mieuli was influential in the hiring of sportscaster Bill King, initially the third man in the Giants broadcast booth in 1958, behind Hodges and Simmons. Upon Mieuli's purchase of the Warriors in 1962, King left Giants radio to become play-by-play voice of the newly minted "San Francisco Warriors". Coincidentally, at the time of Mieuli's purchase of the team, he was still producing the KSFO broadcasts of the Giants, 49ers, and the Warriors.
In 1956, Mieuli purchased five reel-to-reel audiotape duplicators from Ampex for use in distributing sports and music programming to radio stations. The venture led him to create Hi*Speed Duplicating Company, the first business of its kind in Northern California. In 1960, Mieuli produced national radio coverage of the VIII Winter Olympic Games at Squaw Valley. This was the start of his long-standing radio and television production company, Franklin Mieuli & Associates.
On January 8, 1958, Mieuli was granted a construction permit for a new FM radio station in San Francisco, which went on the air on Thursday, December 10, 1959, as KPUP (106.9 FM); the station is now the FM portion of all-news KCBS radio's simulcast. Reflecting Mieuli's love for the style of music, KPUP programmed a Jazz music format, drawing from the rich variety of artists and recordings that were popular at the time, as well as Mieuli's friendship with Saul Zaentz of Fantasy Records. (The San Francisco Giants' 1962 season highlights, narrated by Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons and produced by Mieuli, were released on a long-playing record by Fantasy, catalog number GB-1962.)
KPUP's call letters were changed to the jazzier-sounding KHIP in July 1960. To help finance his purchase of the Warriors, Mieuli sold KHIP to Leon Crosby in June 1962 for $146,000; Crosby renamed the station KMPX.