Just days after it was reported that Ryan Seacrest was renegotiating his “American Idol” contract comes news that the host will be back — and for a lot of dough.
On Monday (July 13), it was announced that Seacrest, under a three-year contract with CKX, parent of “Idol” production company 19 Entertainment, will be making $15 million a year. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the deal, which triples his current salary, had been in the works for several weeks.
While “Idol” has yet to make its own announcement, THR notes that official word will come sometime Monday. The site also reports that “the three-year deal gives CKX exclusivity on Seacrest’s on-camera services for broadcast TV,” although the host has a separate cable deal with Comcast and works with E! as an anchor and producer on several shows, including “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”
With Seacrest’s deal out of the way, the “Idol” producers can now focus on getting the judges’ contracts finalized before next season. All four “Idol” judges are currently in the process of negotiating new contracts, though the season’s auditions have already begun. But in May, Simon Cowell seemed certain that everyone would be back on the show.
“Everyone’s going to be back. Absolutely,” Cowell said just weeks before Paula Abdul hinted she’d be back for another season. “It’s been honestly the best eight, nine years of my life. But I just believe sometimes everything has to come to an end.”
On Monday, Seacrest took to his Twitter page to discuss the news. “Very excited about locking in a deal to host idol for this season and the following 2,” he wrote, adding, “Lots of conversations going on behind the scenes but I fully expect you will see the whole team next year.”
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