Ryan Seacrest Sells Ads for Clear Channel

Ryan Seacrest and Clear Channel Radio are partnering for a new, three-hour syndicated program, On Air with Ryan Seacrest. In an unusual twist, Seacrest will be peddling ads for Clear Channel.

The show will launch this spring, and will be boiled down from the five hours Seacrest airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, according to Clear Channel. It will feature top talent from the worlds of music, film and TV, and will be available for air daily, between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. local time.

Seacrest and Clear Channel Radio will develop original content for the program for national and international distribution across audio, video and online platforms.

In an unusual component of the deal, Seacrest will own and control a portion of the advertising time on the show, in order to bring aboard some of the sponsors with whom he already has a relationship on television.

The show could provide an important boost for radio, which, in terms of ad revenue, is stagnating, writes the Wall Street Journal. Network advertising, which goes hand-in-hand with nationally syndicated, well-known shows, is the simplest to sell and perhaps has the most potential for growth, because advertisers can, with one buy, place ads in dozens of markets around the country. On the other hand, buying on a network basis costs less than buying market by market, which means the radio companies make less money on it.

If Seacrest is successful at making a network buy more appealing to national advertisers, radio companies could rely less on local sales forces.

Ads on Seacrest’s show will be integrated into the programming, rather than traditional :30 and :60 spots.

In conjunction with the new deal, there will be a re-launch of RyanSeacrest.com tied specifically to the new national program. It is being touted as “a universal place for listeners of all affiliates to interact and connect with the daily show, and will become their source for daily entertainment and lifestyle news.”

Additionally, Seacrest has renewed deals to continue as host of American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest; he will also sell some of his own advertising on that show, which is nationally syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks.

Over the past three years, On Air with Ryan Seacrest at KIIS-FM has been the most-listened-to program in Southern California (per Arbitron). The program consistently wins every female demo from 12-17 to 35-44.