Vic Piano

Vic Piano, along with his brother Claude, was the founder and the operator of the Mizlou Television Network, a leading Independent TV Network that was started in 1968. The Network was founded by Piano to offer the Peach Bowl college football game to independent stations. The success of that telecast on December 31, 1968 led to Mizlou becoming the leading independent TV network in the 1970s and 1980s. College Bowl games such as the Fiesta, Bluebonnet, Hall of Fame, Peach, Liberty, Freedom, Cherry, Garden State, Tangerine, Holiday, California, All American, Blue Gray, East West Shrine and Senior Bowls were all televised by Mizlou.
Piano also produced NASCAR, NIT Basketball, ABA Basketball, WCT TEnnis, Pro Track, and Pro Bowling while at the Mizlou helm.
Piano began his TV career as a salesman and then executive with the PGW TV Advertising Sales Representation organization, where he gained his advertising contacts for Mizlou. He then created a 'hard network' of TV cables connecting the USA via AT&T. This gave Mizlou Television Network the capacity to not only feed their own shows on their network but others as well. For many years the Jerry Lewis Telethon was transmitted over the Mizlou configuration.
The advent of cable networks in the 1980s eroded the need for the Mizlou Network and by 1990 the physical network was disbanded, although Mizlou to this day produces programming under the helm of Vic Piano's son, Victor.
Vic Piano retired to his summer home in Georgia, where he lived until his death in 2006.

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