Ryan Seacrest is definitely one to watch for after today’s announcement that Clear Channel made a $300 million infusion in his company in exchange for a minority stake. The company is banking on the Seacrest association to break into the much more profitable TV market. It is not clear how much of the money will directly get into Seacrest’s pockets. At 37 years old, Seacrest is on track to emulate power players such as Oprah and Merv Griffin by owning a powerful production entity.
The smart play for Seacrest seems to be his ability to leverage his successful career as an on-air talent into various money making ventures. On top of his popular hosting gig on American idol paying him about $15 million a year and a position with E! News, Seacrest hosts a nationally syndicated radio show on Clear Channel radio ($60 million over 3 years). This presence allowed him to tap into his relationship with celebrities to launch a slew of successful shows in their names (“Keeping up with the Kardashians”, Denise Richards “It’s Complicated”, etc.) Once his company gained traction, Seacrest followed up with additional partnerships to further his brand and expand his company’s reach.
Seacrest moved to the next level by aligning himself with deep-pocketed partners. Not too long ago, Seacrest partnered with CAA (Creative Artists Agency) and AEG (a global touring and entertainment powerhouse) to purchase AXS TV, a cable channel that will take the place of HDNet in the summer of 2012. Today’s announcement marks another step up the ladder as the Clear Chanel partnership will allow him to “will buy and develop companies, content and other properties”. It is important to note that it was a minority participation, which means that Seacrest remains in charge and independent, while at the same time retaining an ownership position in the company now valued at much more than $300 million.
The lesson here for entertainment talent (musicians, producers, performers, etc.) is to leverage a successful career into a content generating entity, retain ownership in your company and not being afraid to bring in deep-pocketed partners to compound that success into something even bigger. Past that point, the sky is the limit.
