Seacrest, Comcast Forge New Deal

Ryan Seacrest to remain on E! into 2012; Comcast Entertainment Group networks get first-look rights to Ryan Seacrest Productions projects.

By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/20/2008 1:08:00 PM

Fresh off naming longtime agent Adam Sher to head up Ryan Seacrest Productions, Ryan Seacrest inked an expansive new deal with Comcast Entertainment Group.

The agreement will keep Seacrest on E! Entertainment Television into 2012, and it includes a first-look deal for all of the Comcast networks.

Seacrest will continue to serve as anchor and managing editor of E! News and executive producer and host of E!’s Live from the Red Carpet specials through early 2012.

Comcast Entertainment Group will also get first-look rights to all Ryan Seacrest Productions projects through August 2011, encompassing not just E! and Style, but also G4, Versus, The Golf Channel and the other entertainment-group properties. The previous deal between Seacrest and Comcast only applied to E! and Style.

Seacrest Productions produces Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Denise Richards: It’s Complicated for E!, as well as the upcoming Bromance for MTV and Momma’s Boy for NBC.

The agreement also includes a new advertising relationship between E! and Seacrest’s radio properties, including American Top 40 and On-Air with Ryan Seacrest.

"Ryan is not only a spectacular broadcaster and producer, but he is also the ideal ambassador for the E! brand," Comcast Entertainment Group president and CEO Ted Harbert said in announcing the deal. "It is a personal and professional thrill to be the beneficiary of Ryan's incredible work ethic, flawless on-air skills and fantastic instincts as a producer."