Happy 30th, Sal & Premiere News & Prep
• Premiere Networks and Sal Cirrincione, Sr. Director of Rock Programming & Specials, are celebrating a very special milestone, as the Premiere News & Prep service and Cirrincione, one of its architects, mark 30 years together.
Cirrincione was hired by the former MJI Broadcasting in July 1993 to spearhead, along with MJI’s Dave Schulps, a daily rock music news and audio service called Today’s Rock Fax. (Remember faxes?) The success of TRF, now under the guidance of Steve Reynolds and rebranded as Today’s Rock Facts, paved the way for numerous other genre-specific services. Premiere acquired MJI in 1999, and today, Premiere News & Prep comprises 11 format-focused services under the command of Editor-in-Chief Andrew Richter, and reaching 720+ affiliates across the U.S., Canada and other international markets.
Over the last three decades, Cirrincione and Premiere News & Prep have conducted hundreds of artist interviews; provided countless exclusive stories; and on-the-scene coverage of numerous memorable concert events and every Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony and major awards show since the early ’90s. Cirrincione has also produced hundreds of award-winning specials for Premiere and iHeartMedia’s National Programming group, collaborating with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Queen and many others. [That’s Sal and Eric Clapton at Clapton’s Grammy-filled London office]
“We couldn’t be prouder to mark this special milestone with Premiere News & Prep and Sal,” said Jennifer Leimgruber, EVP of Entertainment Programming, Premiere Networks. “Hundreds of stations across the globe depend on Sal and the entire Premiere News & Prep team, who continue to innovate and evolve so they can ensure our affiliates produce the best programming every single day. The work they do is no small feat!”
Cirrincione commented, “It’s been quite a journey with album covers from my youth coming to life countless times. None of this would have been possible without the staff of Premiere Prep; the support of Premiere Networks and iHeartMedia, especially Jennifer Leimgruber, Julie Talbott, Steve Reynolds and Andrew Richter; our hundreds of affiliates; and all the artists, managers and publicists who continually trust us to help them reach the masses.”
