Mere days after inking a $30 million deal to stick with American Idol, Ryan Seacrest has finalized his pact with NBCUniversal.
The contract renewal, which many expected the multi-hyphenate to announce during a Today show appearance earlier this month, comes after lengthy negotiations between Seacrest and E! parent NBCUniversal. The new two-year deal with the expanded company includes such things as a special correspondant for Today, in addition to contributing to NBC primetime newsand the company’s Olympics coverage.
Seacrest will continue his role hosting and producing E! red carpet coverage, but will scale back his daily presence on E! News, for which he will remain managing editor. In a bid to broaden the programming opportunities for Ryan Seacrest Productions, which is behind E!’s Kardashian franchise and Bravo’s recently renewed Shahs of Sunset, the company will no longer have a first look deal with E!.
To be sure, the new role will come in addition to his long-running hosting gigs for both the radio and Fox’s Idol, which he will remain apart of for at least two more seasons.
What’s more, Seacrest, along with partners AEG and agency CAA, recently announced that he would team with billionaire Mark Cuban to rebrand HDNet as a live-entertainment-focused cable network called AXS (pronounced Access). Seacrest’s RSP will have a production commitment with the new venture.
Email: Lacey.Rose@THR.com; Twitter: @LaceyVRose
