David Joseph Cipriano (born September 8, 1954) is an American
voice over
Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non-d ...
actor, radio and TV on-air personality, and author. Since 1997, he has voiced promotional spots for the CBS television network.
Early life and education
Cipriano was born September 8, 1954, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He attended Watertown High School. At age 14, Cipriano called into local disc jockey Jerry Wolf at
WWCO
WWCO (1240 kHz "Viva Radio") is a commercial radio station licensed to Waterbury, Connecticut, and owned by David Webster's Trignition Media LLC. WWCO is a simulcast of its sister station in New Britain, WRYM (840 AM); the stations' programming ...
-AM. He told Wolf that he aspired to become radio DJ and asked if he could visit the station to see what it was like. He would end up running errands and doing office work at the station on weekends and over the summer. When Cipriano was 16, he was hired to work on-air at WWCO-FM, a country music station, and WWCO-AM, a top-40 station, both in Waterbury. He was soon after hired at a third radio station, WDRC-FM, a top-40 station in Hartford. He used a different on-air pseudonym at each station.
After high school, Cipriano became the youngest on-air FM radio personality ever hired by
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
at age 19. It was there that he would meet his wife, Ann, on her first day at NBC as an AM news writer in 1976. They married in 1979.
Career
Cipriano has worked for the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
,
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
,
Fox
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush").
Twelve species ...
and
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
TV and radio networks. His radio career includes having hosted ''The World Chart Show'' from 1995 to 2004 and occasionally filling in for
Casey Kasem
Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40'', as well as the weekly syndicated televi ...
on ''
American Top 40
''American Top 40'' (abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally radio syndication, syndicated, independent song countdown radio programming, radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs (broadcaster), Ron Jaco ...
''. From 1987 to 1992, Cipriano produced and hosted two shows that aired in
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
,
Yokohama
is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
,
Osaka
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
and
Kobe, Japan
Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...
: the ''L.A. Express'' and ''
Toyota
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
California Classics''.
He has worked as an on-air personality using various names, including his birthname (Dave Cipriano), Dave Donovan, and Tom Collins, for the following radio stations:
*
KIIS-FM
KIIS-FM (102.7 FM broadcasting, FM, "102.7 KIIS FM") is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States, and broadcasts to the Greater Los Angeles area. The station airs a contemporary hit radio format. Owned by i ...
– Los Angeles
*
KKHR
KABT (101.7 FM), "The Patriot" is an Americana/Texas country/southern rock radio station serving the Abilene, Texas, area and licensed to nearby Hawley, Texas. The station is owned by WesTex Communications.
The 101.7 facility went on the air ...
– Los Angeles (CBS Hitradio)
*KHTZ-FM – Los Angeles (K-Hits)
*
WRQX
WLVW (107.3 FM) – branded as ''K-Love'' – is a non-commercial Christian adult contemporary radio station licensed to serve Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by the Educational Media Foundation, WLVW does not broadcast any local program ...
– Washington, D.C. (ABC-Q107)
*
WKYS
WKYS (93.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., United States. The station is owned by Urban One through licensee Radio One Licenses, LLC, and broadcasts an urban contemporary radio format. It is co-owned with W ...
– Washington, D.C. (NBC)
*
WDRC AM/
FM –
Hartford
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, Connecticut
*
WWCO
WWCO (1240 kHz "Viva Radio") is a commercial radio station licensed to Waterbury, Connecticut, and owned by David Webster's Trignition Media LLC. WWCO is a simulcast of its sister station in New Britain, WRYM (840 AM); the stations' programming ...
AM/FM – Waterbury, Connecticut
Voice-over work
While still working in radio, Cipriano began picking up voice-over work in commercials.
[ He recorded a demo reel of fake commercials using the recording studio at WRQX in Washington, D.C., where he was working at the time, and reached out to the Denenberg Agency, which was one of the agencies that provided recorded commercials for the radio station.][ He found moderate success in D.C. as a voice for local and regional ads, but his desire to work in network television led him to relocate to Los Angeles after securing a job at KHTZ. In 1988, he became the network promo voice of Fox Broadcasting Network after the head of on-air promos had heard him on-air while listening to KIIS FM.][ He has also been the network promo voice for CBS since 1997 and ESPN International since 2012. He previously has been the promo voice for NBC dramas, the ]Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...
, and the Hallmark Movie Network. Cipriano has announced the 57th, 59th, and 60th Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
awards as well as Grammy
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
award shows and special events. He has also been the live announcer for the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
The Blockbuster Entertainment Awards was a film awards ceremony, founded by Blockbuster Entertainment, Inc., that ran from 1995 until 2001, and ended with the decision to cancel the 2002 awards following concerns after the September 11 attacks. ...
, the VH1 Honors, and the GQ Magazine
''GQ'' (short for ''Gentlemen's Quarterly'' and previously known as ''Apparel Arts'') is an international monthly men's magazine based in New York City and founded in 1931. The publication focuses on fashion, style, and culture for men, though ...
Men of the Year awards.[ Cipriano was one of the candidates to replace ]Charlie O'Donnell
Charles John O'Donnell (August 12, 1932 – November 1, 2010) was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on game shows, and for his distinctive baritone voice. Among them, he was best known for '' Wheel of Fortun ...
on '' Wheel of Fortune'', performing as guest announcer for a week in 2011. He has also been the in-show narrator for a number of network game shows and reality shows, including Hollywood Game Night
''Hollywood Game Night'' is an American television game show that aired on NBC from July 11, 2013, to July 5, 2020. The series, which is hosted by Jane Lynch, follows two contestants who take part in a casual game night with three celebrities ...
, America's Got Talent
''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...
, Candy Crush
''Candy Crush Saga'' is a free-to-play tile-matching video game released by King (company), King on April 12, 2012, originally for Facebook; other versions for iOS, Android (operating system), Android, Windows Phone, and Windows 10 followed. It ...
, and Deal or No Deal
''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch '' Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions'').
The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a ...
.[
In 2022, Cipriano began a voice over career consulting business that offers private career coaching with respect to the voice over and promo industry. He produces voice over demos for upcoming and established voice over actors and presents in-person and online classes around the world throughout the year focused on helping voice-over talent find their "Promo Mojo".][ Cipriano is also a founding member and current donor of the Don LaFontaine Voice Over Lab at the SAG Actors Center. The lab, named for prolific voice actor ]Don LaFontaine
Donald LeRoy LaFontaine (August 26, 1940 – September 1, 2008) was an American voice actor who recorded more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements, network promotions, and video game trailers over fou ...
, serves as both a recording facility and educational resource for the voice actor community.
Cipriano uses a Neumann U 87
The Neumann is a poly-directional large-diaphragm condenser microphone. Originally introduced in 1967, a version of the is still produced by Georg Neumann, Georg Neumann GmbH. The became an industry standard recording microphone, a reputation ...
and Sennheiser 416 microphones for his voice-over work.
Book
Cipriano and his wife Ann co-authored his autobiography ''Living On Air: Adventures in Broadcasting'', which was independently released in 2013.
In addition to his own autobiography, Cipriano is one of the contributors to Joan Baker's book "Secrets of Voice Over Success", which details the experiences of 13 different voice-over actors.[
]
Awards
Cipriano is the recipient of the second-annual Don LaFontaine Legacy Award, recognizing "character, longevity, talent, professionalism, and the passion for giving back," presented at the 2010 PromaxBDA Promotions and Marketing Awards. [
Cipriano's book ''Living on Air'' was given two awards in November 2014 in the 1st annual Voice Arts Awards in the audio book narration category for both biography and author performance.]
He was also nominated for an Audie Award
The Audie Awards (, rhymes with "gaudy"; abbreviated from ''audiobook''), or simply the Audies, are awards for achievement in spoken word, particularly audiobook narration and audiodrama performance, published in the United States of America. They ...
in 2015 in the Autobiography or Memoir category.
References
External links
Official Site
*
The Official Site of the Top Network Voices in America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cipriano, Joe
Living people
American radio personalities
Radio and television announcers
American male voice actors
Male actors from Waterbury, Connecticut
Game show announcers
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American people of Italian descent
1954 births