Premiere Networks

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Premiere Networks, Inc.
FormerlyPremiere Radio Networks
Company typeSubsidiary
Industry
Founded1987; 37 years ago (1987)
Headquarters,
United States
Key people
Julie Talbott (President)
ParentiHeartMedia
Websitepremierenetworks.com

Premiere Networks, Inc. (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It is the largest syndication company in the United States. Founded independently in 1987, it is headed by Julie Talbott, who serves as president.

Premiere Networks either syndicates and/or (co-)produces more than 90 individual programs and radio programming services/networks to more than 5,500 affiliates across the U.S., reaching about 245 million listeners monthly. Premiere offers talk, entertainment and sports programming featuring well-known personalities including Ryan Seacrest, Delilah, JoJo Wright, Mario Lopez, Bobby Bones, Crook & Chase, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, Glenn Beck, Steve Harvey, Big Boy, George Noory, John Boy and Billy, Sean Hannity, Elvis Duran, Dan Patrick, Bill Cunningham, Cody Alan, Johnjay and Rich, Jay Mohr, Leo Laporte and others. The company is based in Sherman Oaks, California, with 13 offices nationwide.

Many Premiere produced/distributed programs are also available on several on-demand audio streaming services, including iHeartMedia's own iHeartRadio platform and iHeart.com website.

It also acts as a Primary Entry Point in the Emergency Alert System for its terrestrial radio affiliates.

History[edit]

Premiere was founded in 1987 with an investment of US$30,000 (equivalent to $77,000 in 2022). Founders included Steve Lehman, Tim Kelly, Louise Palanker[1] and Ed Mann. The network produced three programs with approximately 250 affiliates. In 1992, Premiere entered the agreement with Mediabase, and later acquired the said company in 1994.[2]

In 1997, Jacor Communications acquired both Premiere and EFM Media (producer of the talk program The Rush Limbaugh Show), and in turn, Clear Channel Communications ultimately bought Jacor. Following the merger with AMFM Inc. in 2000, its syndication arm, AMFM Radio Networks, and its radio shows, were folded into Premiere's operations.

Premiere entered a long-term agreement with Fox Sports to launch Fox Sports Radio, with Premiere handling distribution of the network to radio affiliates.

Distribution[edit]

Premiere Networks' programs are currently distributed over satellite, NexGen Digital WANcasting, and downloadable via FTP. The FTP server serves both primary and backup delivery needs for weekly pre-recorded content. For years, Premiere used the popular Starguide Digital III satellite system to distribute their programs prior to their transition to X-Digital Systems (XDS) for satellite delivery.

Premiere's entertainment programs are distributed on a mixture of fee and barter-based deals.

Program schedule[edit]

All times are Eastern. Programs are organized alphabetically by franchise and display their date and time if they're available for online download, and additional information.

Title Day Time Download Sirius/XM Notes
Entertainment Programs
American Top 40 (CHR) with Ryan Seacrest Weekends FTP/download No Yes Part of the American Top 40 franchise
American Top 40 (Hot AC) with Ryan Seacrest No
Casey Kasem's American Top 40: The 80s N/A FTP/download No No Used to air on Sirius XM's '80s on 8 channel
Casey Kasem's American Top 40: The 70s Yes Part of the American Top 40 franchise, reruns of AT40 episodes from the 1970s
Big Boy's Neighborhood Weekdays 6A-10A No No
The Big Show with John Boy and Billy (Rock) Mon-Sat Live on weekdays. Saturday show is a best-of compilation. Owned by FOX News Radio.
The Big Show with John Boy and Billy (Country)
The Bobby Bones Show Weekdays 6A-11A No No
Crook & Chase Countdown Weekends FTP/download No No Produced by Jim Owens Entertainment.
Delilah Everyday 7P-12M No No
Delilah Gold-based AC
Elvis Duran and the Morning Show Weekdays 6A-10A No No Produced by The Elvis Duran Group.

*Based on New York radio station Z100, which was moved to Sirius XM's internet network

Elvis Duran Weekend Weekends 8A-noon Produced by The Elvis Duran Group. For air Saturday or Sunday mornings.
Elvis Duran and the Pre-Morning Show Weekdays 5A-6A Produced by The Elvis Duran Group. For air the following early morning.
iHeartRadio Countdown (CHR) with JoJo Wright Weekends FTP/download No Yes Airs between 6AM and 12 noon local time.

Plays on Sirius XM channel 11 (KIIS) Sunday nights

iHeartRadio Countdown (Hot AC) with Mario Lopez Weekends FTP/download No No Airs between 6AM and 12 noon local time.
The Keith Sweat Hotel Sun-Fri. 7P-midnight No No Known as "The Quiet Storm" in some markets.
Most Requested Live with Romeo Early Edition Saturdays 7P-10P No No Produced by Superadio Network.
Most Requested Live with Romeo Late Edition 10P-midnight
On Air with Ryan Seacrest Weekdays FTP/download Yes Yes For air between 10 AM and 7 PM local time.
On the Move with Enrique Santos Saturdays 10A-2P No No For air between 10 AM and 7 PM local time.
ON with Mario Lopez Weekdays FTP/download No No For air between 3 PM and midnight local time.
The Breakfast Club Weekdays 6A-10A
Smooth Jazz Top 20 with Allen Kepler Weekends FTP/download No Yes Part of the Smooth Jazz Network
The Steve Harvey Morning Show Weekdays 6A-10A No
The Woody Show Weekdays 3A-7A No No
Talk Programs
In The Garden with Ron Wilson Saturdays 6A-9A Yes No Flagship station is WKRC Cincinnati.
At Home with Gary Sullivan Weekends 9A-noon Yes No Flagship station is WKRC Cincinnati.
The Jesse Kelly Show Weekdays 6P-9P ET Yes No
Coast to Coast AM with George Noory Tues-Sat Live:
*1A-5A (ET)
*10P-2A (PT)
Replay:
*2A-6A (PT; for West Coast stations only)
Yes Yes
Coast to Coast AM Saturdays Sunday 1A-5A Yes Hosting duties rotate between Connie Willis, Lisa Garr, Richard Syrett or Jimmy Church.
Coast to Coast AM Sundays Monday 1A-5A Yes Hosting duties rotate between George Noory (first Sunday), George Knapp (third and fourth Sunday), and selected guest hosts (second and fifth Sunday).
Somewhere in Time with Art Bell Saturday 9P-1A No Encore presentations of "Coast to Coast AM" shows hosted by Art Bell dating back to 1996.
Coast to Coast AM Best of George Noory Sunday 9P-1A No Select segments from previous week's Coast to Coast AM with George Noory.
The Glenn Beck Radio Program Weekdays 9A-noon Yes Yes Produced by Mercury Radio Arts.
The Glenn Beck Weekend Fridays 1P-4P Produced by Mercury Radio Arts. For air weekends.
Handel on the Law Saturdays 9A-noon Yes No Hosted by Bill Handel, this show is taped and edited for national distribution, after it airs live on its flagship KFI Los Angeles.
The Jesus Christ Show Sundays 9A-noon Yes No Host Neil Saavedra takes calls from listeners, portraying himself in the role of Jesus Christ. Its flagship is KFI, Los Angeles.
Keep Hope Alive with Jesse Jackson Sundays 8A-10A No No
Live on Sunday Night, it's Bill Cunningham Sunday 10P-1A Yes No Produced by DirecTV. Premiere handles sales and distribution. Flagship station is WLW Cincinnati.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show Weekdays noon-3P Yes No
The Sean Hannity Show Weekdays 3P-6P Yes
The Weekend with Michael Brown Saturday noon-3P No No Flagship station is KHOW Denver.
The Sean Hannity Morning Minute Weekdays 10:03:30 PM No No
Direct From Hollywood with Ryan Seacrest Weekdays 3:01:00 AM No No For morning drive.
4:01:00 AM No No For afternoon drive.
Dan Patrick's Above the Noise Weekdays 10:01:30 AM No No
Fox Sports Radio Programs
Two Pros and A Cup of Joe with Jonas Knox, LaVar Arrington, and Brady Quinn Weekdays 6A-9A Yes Yes
Saturday 4P-7P
The Dan Patrick Show Weekdays 9A-noon Yes Yes DIRECTV Sports Group owns and produces the show while Premiere handles distribution and sales.
The Herd with Colin Cowherd Weekdays noon-3P Yes
The Doug Gottlieb Show Weekdays 3P-6P Yes Yes
Straight Outta Vegas with R.J. Bell Weekdays 6P-7P Yes Yes
The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker Weekdays 7P-10P Yes Yes
The Jason Smith Show Weekdays 10P-2A Yes Yes
Ben Maller Weekdays 2A-6A Yes Yes
Fox NFL Sunday with Terry Bradshaw, Jimmy Johnson, Howie Long, Curt Menefee, and Michael Strahan Sunday noon-1P No Yes Television audio simulcast from FOX. Premiere Radio Networks distributes the show to radio. The program only broadcasts from September through February.
Big Ten Football and Beyond with Dave Revsine, Gerry DiNardo, and Chris Martin Thursday 6P-7P No No This program is only broadcasts from September through April. It is fed separate from the main network, and intended for playback on weekends.
PAC-12 Crackback with Petros Papdakis & Steve Physioc Wednesday 6P-7P No No This program is only broadcasts from September through April. It is fed separate from the main network, and intended for playback on weekends.
The Mike North Show Saturday 9A-noon No Yes
Sunday 10P-1A
Fox Gametime with Anthony Gargano & Lincoln Kennedy Saturday noon-4P No Yes
Race Day on Fox with Rob D’Amico Sunday 7A-9A No Yes
NFL Central with Mike North Sunday 9A-10A No Yes
Fox Fantasy Football with Nate Lundy, Peter Burns and Mike Harmon Sunday 10A-noon No Yes
The Fox Blitz with Ben Maller & Tomm Looney Sunday 1P-7P No Yes
Fox Gametime React with Andy Furman & Lincoln Kennedy Sunday 7P-10P No Yes
Fox News Radio Programs
All content is produced by Fox News Radio and Premiere Radio handles distribution and sales only.

See also List of programming syndicated by iHeartMedia.

- The show requires a paid subscription to download.

Former programs[edit]

  • The Bob & Tom Show (Moved to Westwood One in 2014)
  • Hot Mix (Un-hosted - Dance mix show... 1998 - 2001)
  • The Jim Rome Show (Moved to CBS Sports Radio when the network launched in January 2013)
  • Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 (moved to Dial Global/Triton Radio in 2006, Citadel Media in 2009, Westwood One/Dial Global in 2011, and now at Compass Media Networks since 2012.)
  • Carson Daly Most Requested (Show ended when 5-year contract was up in 2006)
  • Last Night on Tonight with Jay Leno (moved to Westwood One, January 2007)
  • The Ramsey Lewis Morning Show (ended in 2009 when WNUA switched formats)
  • Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis (moved to WDCB in Chicago)
  • The Phil Hendrie Show (Hendrie left in 2006 to pursue a career in television, he later announced a return, but on Talk Radio Network)
  • The Ken Hamblin Show (Hamblin left the show mid-90s)
  • After Hours with Glenn Hollis (cancelled in 2005)
  • Boot Scootin' Partyin' Nights with Bo Reynolds (later Hollywood Harrison)-- cancelled mid-90s, Reynolds hosts a similar show on another network now
  • Star & Buc Wild Morning Show (immediately cancelled in 2006 after DJ Star threatened the daughter of DJ Envy (currently one of the co-hosts of The Breakfast Club) who was then at rival station WQHT. Later moved to Pulse 87, currently out of radio)
  • Michael Reagan (moved to Radio America in 2003, then to American Family Radio in 2009, currently out of radio)
  • Rockline (moved to Crystal Media Networks in 2003, then to Dial Global in 2008)
  • "Live From the 60's with the Real Don Steele". A syndicated 3 hour radio program marketed to radio stations with an Oldies format. It launched in early 1988 and aired over 200 radio stations before ending production in 1993. Some stations continued airing reruns from 1993-1996. Steele died in August 1997 from lung cancer; producer M. G. Kelly took over the show, retooled it into American Hit List, and distributes the show himself.[1] In 2015, "Live From the 60's" was re-launched with MG Kelly producing and syndicating the show out himself. [2]
  • Lionel (cancelled in 2001, revived and moved to WOR Radio Network and later Air America Radio)
  • Dreamland with Art Bell, later Whitley Strieber (replaced by Matt Drudge and Ian Punnett; now heard online exclusively.)
  • Jeff Rense (left in 1998, went to Genesis Communications Network, now at Republic Broadcasting Network)
  • Sex with Dr. Natasha - Ended in Spring 2004 out of fear of being cited or fined by the FCC, as part of its crackdown following the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy.
  • After Midnite - 1993 to 2013, country music show hosted by Blair Garner. Garner departed for Cumulus Media Networks. The After Midnite name is, as of late 2013, being used for various guest hosts in the time slot.
  • Matt Drudge. Drudge voluntarily ended his show on September 30, 2007; Drudge would keep with this Drudge Report Web site and continue hosting as a guest host on various shows, most notably Clear Channel radio shows.
  • Wake Up With Whoopi - canceled in November 2007.
  • Kidd Kraddick in the Morning (moved to ABC Radio, February 2008)
  • Mid-day with Mike McConnell - Reverted to a local show in February 2008.
  • Radio Kandy - Hot AC countdown show hosted by John Candy. Lasted from 1988 to 1990.
  • Costas on the Radio - show ended May 31, 2009 so that Bob Costas could concentrate on his other projects.
  • American Top 20 and American Top 10 with Casey Kasem - Ended July 3, 2009 after Kasem retired.
  • Premiere also syndicated the Cutler Comedy Networks, a series of sketches and parody songs for morning drive time radio programs produced and written by Gil Christner.
  • Dr. Laura - moved to satellite radio in 2011
  • The Dave Koz Radio Show - moved to Compass Media Networks in 2013
  • Big D and Bubba - moved to Compass Media Networks ca. 2014.
  • Dawson McAllister Live - ended in 2012; moved to Benztown Radio/Hollywood Radio Network in 2015, then to the Dawson McAllister Network.
  • Evolution with Pete Tong - ended in December 2016. Also known as the "Evolution Beatport Show".
  • The Randi Rhodes Show - Following the demise of the Nova M Network, Rhodes' show was distributed by Premiere Radio Networks from 2009 to 2014, when she voluntarily ended her show. It was one of the network's highest-rated liberal shows, but Rhodes chafed at how it was treated by the company. Following the end of the PRN show, Rhodes took time off to regroup, then returned in 2016 with a subscription-based show, stating that she had ended the PRN show because the network did very little if anything to promote her, claiming that liberal talk radio was a losing proposition.
  • Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx and Jenn Marino, and The Side Show Countdown with Nikki Sixx and Jenn Marino - ended in December 2017.
  • The Rush Limbaugh Show - ended in 2021 due to Limbaugh's death.
  • The Weekend Top 30 and Remix Top 30 with Hollywood Hamilton (or DJ Pup Dawg) - ended in 2021
  • Leo Laporte, The Tech Guy

References[edit]

  1. ^ Palanker, Louise (September 10, 2017). "Premiere in Entrepreneur". Retrieved July 10, 2023. In 1983 Tim Kelly, Steve Lehman, Ed Mann and I founded Premiere Radio Networks, now a division of I Heart Media. We got very lucky.
  2. ^ "Premiere Radio Networks Puts Beck Among Talk's Top Stars | Los Angeles Business Journal". labusinessjournal.com. November 11, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2021.

External links[edit]