April 11, 2024 • 37 mins
Ryan Seacrest is America’s favorite host. He’s been on the radio since he was a teenager, but it wasn’t until he came on all of our TV screens in 2002 as the host of American Idol that he became a constant presence in American households. That big break propelled him to other roles, like hosting E! Red Carpets, Live with Kelly and Ryan, and will soon become the new host of Wheel of Fortune. All the while, he’s been on the radio in Los Angeles, and as the host of the syndicated show On Air with Ryan Seacrest, recently celebrating his 20th year on KIIS-FM. All this plus producing ventures that have brought us phenomena like Keeping Up with the Kardashians make it seem like Ryan can be in multiple places at once, and is definitely the hardest working person in showbiz. As Ryan tells Bob, he’s had a relentless drive to find success since he was a kid in Atlanta falling in love with radio. Listen to hear how he dropped out of college at 19, moved to Los Angeles, and turned that determination into a storied career. Plus, hear how a key encounter with Dick Clark helped him hone his hosting persona and why interacting with people–from connecting with contestants to his meaningful philanthropic ventures–is what keeps him going.
To learn more about the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, please visit www.ryanseacrestfoundation.org.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Math and Magic, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I think at the core what I get excited about,
what gets me up in the morning is connecting with
people in an unscripted, unvarnished way. Is getting to say
something to them, here back from them. Know that I'm
part of the routine, and I look forward to getting
on the air.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Welcome to Math and Magic, Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing.
I'm Bob Pittman, and on this episode, we're going to
chat with one of the world's most famous workaholics. Often
called the hardest working person in showbiz, he covers the spectrum, host, producer, promoter,
owner of radio and TV shows, events and products, entrepreneur, investor,
and a generous philanthropist. He's best known for his long
(00:49):
running stint as the host of American Idol. He's on
season twenty two and twenty years with us at iHeart
the iconic morning personality on LA's Kiss, and on air
with Ryan Seacrest on over one hundred radio stations nationwide.
Ryan is an almost Christmas baby from Atlanta, Georgia, but
is probably best known as part of the Hollywood establishment
(01:12):
for decades. Most people we talked to a math at
Magic had a childhood ambition that got disrupted for the
path they eventually took. Not Ryan, he has done what
he originally dreamed of doing and then some. He has
impeccable instincts, plus do organizational skills and discipline to bring
them to life. The Kardashians New Year's Eve on ABC,
(01:33):
six years of Live with Kelly and Ryan, American Top forty,
the iHeartRadio Music Festival, and coming soon he takes over
as the host of the legendary Wheel of Fortune place.
He's on the radio every morning, no matter what, How
does he do it all?
Speaker 4 (01:48):
And why?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
We'll dig into that in a few minutes. He's also,
by the way, a great guy and a good friend. Ryan. Welcome,
congrats on thanks for twenty years at iHeart.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
Thank you. I'm thrilled to be Bob, my fellow Capricorn friend.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Before we jump into the media topics, I want to
do you in sixty seconds.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
You ready? Okay? Great? Do you prefer cats or dogs? Dogs?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Early Riser Night Out Early Riser New York or Los
Angeles by Coastal Coca Pepsi Coca Cola, Atlanta boy Here,
Rock and Roller, country, country, coffee or tea so much
black coffee. Reality TV or TV dramas, Reality TV cook
(02:31):
or eat out?
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Cook and eat out, but I cook? Radio or TV? Well,
are you the chairman of iHeart radio? And I like TV?
Comedy or drama? Drama? Selfie or autograph? Autograph? This is
going to get really hard.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
All time favorite music artists Frank Sinatra, first job, Radio,
Favorite TV show from your childhood, Growing Pains, The Love Boat,
Beverly Hills, nine oh two, one Ohero. I can't choose
smartest person you know? My father, childhood hero. I'm my
father as well. Favorite sport to watch football, Favorite city
(03:08):
Atlants in New York, Los Angeles, I mean all of
my affiliates.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
A favorite place to visit Italy. And secret talent is
still searching. Okay, let's jump in.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Anytime I talk with anyone about you, the first words
out of their mouth are, he's a great guy. No
one ever calls you temperamental talent. How did you navigate
all you've done and not turn into the Hollywood prima Donna?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Well, I'm flattered to hear that people say that when
I'm not around, I think for me, it's just honesty
and simple this is what I always wanted to do.
I dreamt of doing what I get to do every
single day, and I remind myself of how it felt
when I didn't do it, and that drive, that how
that fire I had in my belly beforehand, and so
(03:58):
to have the privilege of doing it every day, I
remind myself to be grateful and treat it in such
a way.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
So, how has been a good reasonable guy helped your career?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Well? I think people appreciate relationships in any business, especially
in our business. I think people appreciate kindness and authenticity.
And I hope to think that people who I've met
and didn't have an opportunity to do something with right
away later we came back and we were eventually able
to collaborate because we maintained a good, friendly, kind relationship.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Although I read a long list of things you do,
the truth is that that's just a sampling of all
you do. Did you intend to do all those things
or did it just sneak up on you. I never
intended to do all of those things. I wanted to
move to Los Angeles when I was growing up in Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
I had a dream to do that. When I was
a teenager. I made that dream come true. When I
was nineteen, still a teenage, I studied the work of
Merv Griffin Dick Clark, both guys who had a radio
and TV career and both entrepreneurs and both asset owners,
and both very very smart but also very good presenters
(05:16):
on air. And I watched how they maneuvered the skills
of business and the skills of performance and what that
intersection was for them, And in my head I felt, Okay,
if I could take baby steps towards those paths, maybe
it would be the career that I'm looking for and
be fulfilling to me. But I didn't know how it
(05:37):
would all come together. I didn't know what the pieces
of the puzzle necessarily would be.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Simple question here on your personality. Do you love complexity
and what happens to you if you don't have enough
to do?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Maybe I love complexity, but I also love simplicity in
the form of efficiency. When I was growing up, was
always very very busy and hustling and rushing to the
next thing, and at the time that was you know,
I played football, believe it or not, as a kid,
and so we get up early, we go to the
weight room before class, we go to class, we go
to practice afterwards, then after that there'd be a four
(06:14):
h meeting or some sort of clug we'd have to
go to. Now remember my days being filled and loving
that sort of velocity in the day, And I think
I conditioned myself to thrive on motion and movement and
create emotion from that kind of motion. And so as
an adult, and as I put my professional life together,
(06:35):
I thought, how can I, if given the opportunity, do
multiple things, probably because I also have the fear of
all of it going away at some point, but do
multiple things in the most efficient way so that it
can be stacked into a morning, an afternoon, an evening,
a day a week, and create a formula that allows
(06:57):
me to jump into different roles, which I find very exciting.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
So do you think of your schedule as hectic or stimulating?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Well, when I read it, it's hectic, But then when
I get into it, I do find it exhilarating and stimulating.
And I prefer and I like the momentum the schedule
that I keep.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Does it propel you through the day, It does propel
me through the day.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
I've also gotten better, you know, as the years go by,
you know, you start to chip off a little wisdom.
And I have gotten better understanding balance. I used to
carry a lot of guilt Bob when I wasn't working.
So for example, if I had a Saturday and I
was going to the beach with some friends, I felt
a little guilt like why am I not trying to
get that big break, or why am I not trying
(07:43):
to leverage what I'm doing into something else. And I
remember going on vacations with my family, with my parents,
with my sister when I was in my early twenties,
and I always have my phone with me, and my
mom and dad said, why you why do you have
that phone with you? Well, well, in case the program
director of the radio station needs me or calls me
or wants me to come back to do a shift
(08:03):
because somebody is sick, I want to be able to
do that. And so I carried that with me for
a long time. But now I've gotten to the place
where I do believe in full focus and work and
preparation in the hours and blocks that I'm in production.
But I also believe in really expanding my horizon when
it comes to things that I love to do with wellness, food,
(08:24):
the hobbies that I'm into.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Almost every career is enabled by one unlikely or improbable
stroke of luck somewhere in the process. For me, it
was to jump from minimum wage part time radio announce
from Brookhaven, Mississippi, to programming this station and being on
the air at the big NBC owned radio station in
Chicago just five years later. What was yours and how
(08:48):
did it happen?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
One that I think about now and hone in on
is the big break of being the host of American Idol.
This came at a time when I was twenty six
seven years years old. I was on the radio in
Los Angeles doing afternoon drive. It had been on television
a little bit and gotten some good experience, but nothing
at the level with the impact of what was about
to come. And initially I met with the producers and
(09:11):
I was considered as a judge for American Idol. And
during the meeting with those executive producers, I started asking
about the host and they said, well, you could audition
for the host if you want, so I auditioned to
be the host of American Idol. After the audition that night,
they told me that I got the job and we
started shooting the next day. Literally the next morning we
started shooting.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
We were doing.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Audition Simon, Randy Paula. We were meeting in Hollywood to
do the auditions for the first season of the show
that had never been on the air.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
This was at the time Bup.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
You probably remember this when people were saying music does
not work on TV, right, Remember that, Well, I remember
those stories. I know those people, we know those people. Well,
it did work on TV. It started to become this massive,
massive event on television. And that was a moment that
I thought to myself, Wow, I'm lucky here right like
I got into this, I'm lucky.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
This is going to be a ride.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
How do I take this momentum and turn it into
something bigger at the same time, And that's when we
started having conversations with the management for American Top forty
and Kiss FM and the other things that you mentioned
at E where I went and hosted E News and
the red carpet shows and produced series for them. So
(10:24):
I would say being the host of that singing competition
show opened the door for all the things that they
came to fruition.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
How did you even get the audition?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
That was one that you know, in Hollywood, you have
representation and the agents call and say they're looking for
a host for this show. The audition was pretty interesting.
The audition was at the Fox lot in front of
the executives in a meeting room, and all they did
was say, Okay, here's a scenario. A contestant just lost
a family member. They sang an emotional song, they're crying.
(10:55):
You need to talk to them and turn to the
camera and get us a commercial break in thirty seconds
with Finn go.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Wait a minute, you can't leave us hanging. What did
you say? How did you handle that?
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I can't remember exactly how are what I said, but
I do remember thinking, Okay, this is a moment to
slow down and not say too much. That's the other
thing that I've learned. And of course this is an
audio format, so we're talking a lot. But another thing
that I learned hosting was just listening is the best
thing you can do when being a host.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
It's just to listen. So I just I think I
listened and maybe that's what they saw.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
So you started as your foundation as an on air
radio personality. You still do it today mornings on the
legendary KISSFM in Los Angeles, America Top forty. You're syndicated
on Aaron Ryan Seacrest on over one hundred stations nationwide,
plus one of the top shows on the iHeartRadio digital app.
Why the love of radio and after all your success
(11:47):
across all media, why is radio still so important to you?
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Love the connection to people.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I think at the core what I get excited about,
what gets me up in the morning is connecting with
people in an unscripted, unvarnished way. Is getting to say
something to them, hear back from them, know that I'm
part of the routine, and I look forward to getting
on the air. I look forward to it. Just last night,
I went to dinner. I eat very early. I went
to dinner very early. I was trying to get into
(12:15):
a restaurant. It was five point thirty the first reservation.
I was there at five twelve. I was sitting outside.
It wasn't open, and I was standing on the curb,
and I'm texting the co hosts of my morning show,
you know, just sort of saying, hey, this is kind
of funny, let's talk about this tomorrow. That I'm always
the one standing outside waiting for a place to open,
and I can't wait to get in there and get
out in forty two minutes, And so in my mind
I'm thinking about the next day's show because I just
(12:37):
love to get up and connect and have that conversation
on a regular basis. That same thing about the radio shows,
and I've done it almost every day since i was
fourteen years old.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
I'm now not fourteen.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
But there's just something about the fluidity, about the autonomy
of conversation, of content, of topics that we get to
have in the radio show that's just real and hopefully relatable.
I love that, and I love you mentioned Wheel of Fortune.
I haven't done it yet, but I think I'm going
to love the opportunity to connect with three people every night,
(13:09):
meet three people from across the country, get to know
them for a half hour, and give away some money
and maybe a car, you know, cash and prizes.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
That's what drives me.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Advertisers love being on your show, and they really love
your endorsements. Talk about how you think about that and
how you interact with sponsors.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Well, we have done this together for a long time,
you and I and I truly believe and I realize
this that the sales department and the partnership with our
advertisers and clients. That's what fuels the platform. That's what
allows us as personalities influencers to get up every day
and have a place to talk and have a beacon.
Right Without the advertisers, we wouldn't be able to do
(13:51):
what we do. So there's a lot of value in
our relationship with them. And what's most important to me
is when an advertiser wants to be on one of
our programs, is to understand what they're trying to accomplish.
And we've asked them before meetings that you and I
have been in together, what will move the needle for you?
Not just getting on the air and talking about something,
(14:11):
but what really will make change or what really is
a success for you for this product, for this campaign,
for this season.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
And that's helpful.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You get really clear answers and have a very clear
path to success with an advertiser when you understand what
a win is for them.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
And I love to have that dialogue. Most people on
the radio would love to have your success. You're the
top of the heap. What do you think makes great
on air talent and what advice would you give to
anyone who wants to be you.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
It's difficult for me to give advice because everybody is
so different and everybody's got their own skill set.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
For me, I don't have a talent.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
I don't have a skill set per se except I
love to go. I love to prepare. I do take
it seriously while having fun. But preparation is a big
thing for me that I can control. When I was
a baby DJ, people who were wiser than I said,
you know, you got to have a point of view,
(15:15):
and you've got to be a good communicator with that
point of view and be your genuine self. And when
I was young and starting out, that was impossible to
do because I had imposter syndrome because I was eighteen
trying to play thirty five and always wanting to sound
like I fit in. But I do think that the
preparation is key. Having fun while taking it seriously and
(15:40):
being kind is a good formula.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
I remember when you first told us about the opportunity
to do the live TV show each day with Kelly
and explaining how you could get off the air in
New York and then do your daily radio show in
Los Angeles, and I ad met you and I've talked
about it before.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
I was skeptical.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
I couldn't imagine that anyone can handle that schedule. And oh,
by the way, he squeezed in American Idol. But you did,
and ratings actually went up. On your radio show, Live
with Kelly and Ryan was a top daytime show on TV.
An Idol was also a smash and you're not stopping.
So after six seasons, you've moved on from the daily
(16:18):
TV show to step into one of the most legendary
roles on TV, replacing Pat Sajack as the host of
Wheel of Fortune. Tell us why and how that happened.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Well, to think about that meeting with you, I don't
get nervous too much. I was a little nervous about
that meeting, right because I had to come in sounding
pretty confident that could pull it all off, even if
I wasn't quite sure if I could. And thank goodness,
it did work. And you know, those six years with
Kelly Rippa were amazing six years. She is such a
brilliant talent. She made me better. Sitting next to her
(16:52):
raised my game. You kind of have to. She's just
that good. And she can carry any conversation anywhere, at
any time, at any second it's thrown at her on
live television, and that's a show that has no script.
And I will tell you one of the things I
loved about that show having no script was because I
had so many years of radio experience where we don't
have a script, and that made it fun. It's a
(17:12):
little bit like doing a morning show Bob on TV, right,
the two of us sitting there talking about what we
did last night, And after traveling back and forth from
Los Angeles to New York a lot over the years,
it felt like a good time to try something else.
The opportunity for Wheel of Fortune came up. Fortunately we
made that deal. And no one will ever do what
(17:33):
Pat Sajack has done. He's a legend who had hosted
that show for so many years, I mean the episode's
record breaking episodes, and he became a companion and a
good friend to a lot of people in their living
rooms every single night with Vanna and me too. So
for me, it's a show that I know this country loves.
(17:53):
I know it's got a special place in a lot
of people's hearts because it's generational. They grew up with it,
maybe they learned something from it, maybe they got together
with their kids to watch it.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
I like that in the show.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
I like that it's fun, it's lighthearted, and at the
end of it, you make people really happy. At this
stage in my career, that's exciting. To do it in
the seven to eight time period is exciting, and I
kind of can't wait to get on the air that
starts in September Moral Math.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
And Magic right after this quick break. Welcome back to
Math and Magic. Let's hear more from my conversation with
Ryan Seacrest. So let's go back in time. I want
to put you in context. You were born in Atlanta, Georgia,
a very tight and supportive family, still have it. Can
(18:43):
you paint the picture of that time and place when
you were growing up?
Speaker 4 (18:48):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Yeah, this is when I found in love with radio.
I can smell the grass when I was mowing the
lawn with a Toro rear propelled lawnmower, and I was
listening at the time on my water resistant yellow Sony
Walkman to American Top forty hosted by Casey Kaseum, and
I pictured all of the artists he was playing. I
(19:12):
pictured him being in his studio in Hollywood, the glamour
of it all, and I just thought, Wow, this is
super cool that I'm listening in Atlanta to something coming
out of Hollywood about the biggest artists in the top forty.
And that's when I started to dream about doing it.
That's when I started to make tapes pretending I was
Casey Caseum and I go up into my bedroom and
I'd count down the hits from coast to coast, as
(19:34):
he would say, and make audio tapes with songs for
my mom and dad and my sister and I to
listen to when we would drive from Atlanta to Destin,
Florida for our one week summer vacation every year in
a Volvo station Wagon with the luggage carrier on top.
So I have vivid memories of those days dreaming about this.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Did your family worry about your obsession with radio.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
I don't know that they were. I think they saw
this is something that I am going to do. Either
they get to come on board or if they don't,
I'm going for it anyway. I remember telling my folks,
you know, I went to the University of Georgia in
about a year and a half in I wasn't sleeping.
I was so focused on trying to make it in
(20:19):
Los Angeles. I thought, I cannot get this out of
my system. That's all they think about. I'm obsessed with
going for it. I'm going to pack up my stuff,
I'm gonna get in my Honda, I'm going to go
out to Los Angeles. I have to tell my parents
I'm dropping out of college. This is not something that
they saw coming pretty traditional families, you know, Bob. My
mom and dad blessed. They've been married for fifty plus years,
(20:41):
and my father is a retired attorney. My mother's the
greatest mother in the world. So going to them to say, hey,
I'm quitting school and going to LA where we didn't
know anybody, I knew it was gonna be a tough one.
And they said, well, look, we can tell based on
what you're saying that if we're not supportive of this idea,
you're going to go anyway, and said, I think I am.
Now whether or not they thought it would work out,
(21:02):
I don't know what they really believed, but I knew
when I went out there, I wasn't going to come
back until I made it. I didn't want to come
home until I could say at least I've got a job.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
You went to La. Where did you live? You didn't
know anybody? Who did you say hello to? How did
you start? So my father was in the army.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
One of the guys he kept in touch with had
a son who was a teacher in LA.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
And so my mom says, hey, why don't you.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Call this guy and if you guys can connect, we
feel more comfortable if you would move in with him,
if he is cool with it, and you guys share
an apartment together, because we just don't know anybody out there.
So anyway, I went out. We stood in line to
get tickets to see the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
We watched that. That's when we first met and we
started talking. He said, yeah, we want to split a
one bedroom I'll do it. So we split a one
(21:52):
bedroom apartment in Burbank for three hundred and seventy five
dollars each. And that's where I started to live.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
You're living in this one an apartment with a roommate
and you don't know anybody in LA and you're going
to make it. How do you get into the system?
Who on earth did you call? What put your foot
in the door.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
So at the time when I moved out to Los Angeles.
I had been on the air while I was in
high school as a part time DJ at the radio station,
the pop station in Atlanta, WSTR Star ninety four FM.
And when I moved out to Los Angeles, there was
an affiliate of the American Top forty. And somehow I
(22:31):
got a name of somebody that was a program director
at Star ninety eight point seven in LA. And his
name was Randy Lane. And I called Randy Lane and
I left a message, and I called it, called and called,
and eventually I did get a call back from him,
and I said, look, I was a part time guy.
It just moved out to LA. I was on in Atlanta.
I'm just a kid. I'm trying to make it no problem.
Come in, we'll meet. We met the first shift I did, eventually,
(22:54):
after driving the van around and giving away tab Clear
in drugstore parking line. Remember that it was a big
promotion for tab Clear. I was doing, oh yeah, and
he said, why don't you do overnights Friday. It was
like midnight to five am, same thing Saturday.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
So that's what I did. I did overnights. I drove
the van and I.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Kept just chipping away and trying to show some ambition
in what I wanted to do for a living.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Did you ever think maybe I need to go back
to Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
No.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
I knew that no matter what or how hard or
you know, sleepless nights, whatever it was going to take,
I was going to do something so that I never
had to go back and say I didn't do it.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
I couldn't do it, I didn't make it.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
I had real fire, real drive to do something so
that I didn't have to go back. Not because I
didn't love Atlanta. I want to go back, but I
wanted to make it. I wanted to be right right.
I wanted the case that presented to my parents to
actually be legitimate.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
So you mentioned Murf Griffin and Dick Clark. Dick Clark,
I know, was someone you greatly admired, and he was
mentor of yours as well. What did you learn from
Dick Clark And how the hell did you meet Dick Clark?
Speaker 2 (24:05):
I called called Dick Clark when American Idol first started
after the first season.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
He was a he and Marbez.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
You said, these guys were guys I looked up to,
and I called his office and American Idol had aired,
So I figured I have a shot at meeting him,
and they set a meeting with him, and I went
into his offices in Burbank, and you know, I asked
him some questions and he was extremely focused on the
business while being the most congenial guy and making it
(24:33):
look so easy on TV.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
And I'll never forget what he did say to me.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
He did say to me, Okay, so everybody's probably gonna
think they can do what you do really well. You
want people to think that's easy. I could do that.
Who are watching you? Because if you're making it look
that easy, and we all know it's not. You're doing
a good job, making it seamless and making it comfortable.
If it looks difficult and hard, you're not doing a
(24:57):
good job. So I remember him telling me that, and
he also said you should try to own some things
and the shows that you do, really make sure you've
got some equity and the piece of them and some
control of those. And so I took that and eventually
we established a rapport, and eventually he invited me to
come on a co host with him after his stroke
on New Year's Rock and Eve. The first year immediately
(25:18):
Regis Philbin hosted with before Dick actually, and then after
Dick had me come in and co host with him,
and every year afterwards he would write me the most
beautiful letter about the night and the experience and just
just really kind words. So it was an honor to
(25:38):
take over for him once I did.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
You started your own production company two thousand and six
and almost immediately had a hit. What took you there
and looking back, what was the most important reason for
your success as a producer. How did you make that
jump from creative to business person?
Speaker 2 (25:58):
This is thinking of the ideas that MERV Griffin when
I sat with him, and Dick Clark when I sat
with him, These are the things that they said to
always be on the lookout for. I remember MRV saying, look,
once you're on a TV show where people are watching,
you can probably get a meeting with executives at different
networks to sell an idea. So I remember that and
we made the production deal. The Kardashians came along pretty fast.
(26:20):
I was watching the Osbornes at the time that was
on MTV, and I thought that was brilliant the way
that they were showing the family and thought, wow, there
could be you know, a real genre for this and
is there another interesting family with a lot of different
moving parts and people and things going on that people
might want to watch. And at the time, Chris Jenner
(26:40):
was thinking about doing a show with the family and
a casting director, Dina Katz. She knew that both of
us were in this aligned thinking pattern about this kind
of show and this genre in seat up a meeting
with the two of us, and Chris Jenner and I
had that meeting and afterwards we made a deal to
go shoot a pilot of the Kardashians. And I, at
(27:02):
the time at the production company didn't own I didn't
own a camera. We didn't have anything, no equipment. So
I remember Elliott, who worked for me at the time.
He went out and he bought a camera. He went
to the valley to the Kardashians house over a weekend
and he just.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
Shot a backyard barbecue. He called me after he shot.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
He said, I think we've got something here, and of
course we saw it. We put the tape together. I
think Chris Jenner still has the pilot tape somewhere. Initially
we pitched it to E and it didn't stick in
The pitch was going to go somewhere else and I
remember calling Ted Harbert, who was the president of E
at the time, and saying, I really think we should
(27:41):
try and do this here and and Chris, to her credit, said,
they are going to let the cameras follow everything.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
They're going to be vulnerable. That's just the way they're
going to treat this. And I made one more push
and they bought it.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
And then what happened was we had to move quick,
and we made that show very fast to air, and
the rest sort of well, you know.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
And that was your jump the business person.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
That was the jump I think you know making and
you're good at this making a quick decision, right. I mean,
I like to digest, but I also have found this
sometimes you don't get the opportunity to do that, and
if you can make a quick decision, it can pay off.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Philanthropy, you've always been concerned about others. It shows on
the air. It's probably what makes you you. Listeners can
feel it. But you've also given your time and your
money directly to causes that matter to you and move
you can you tell us a little bit about that,
and specifically about the Ryan Seacrest Foundation of what you're
doing in pediatric hospitals.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Well, this is something that is my greatest work and
it is something that we are fortunate enough to do.
My mom, my dad, my sister, and I at the
Ryan Seacrest Foundation and a great team based out of Nashville.
Now we have built media centers, TV content centers, radio centers,
green screen centers in fifteen pediatric hospitals across the country.
(29:00):
We're in the lobby of pediatric hospitals everywhere from Boston
to Philly to Atlanta and many more to come. And
when you walk into the lobby, you'll see this cool
area behind the glass that looks like a studio that
we would work in, and it's a place for kids
and their families to go to escape. It's the one
room in the hospital where they're not giving shots, doctors
(29:21):
aren't telling you what you have to do, there's no
treatment in there. It's all about escaping and tapping into creativity.
And this idea came after I had visited pediatric hospitals
around the country and spoken with parents, After I met
kids in their hospital beds and I just asked them questions.
I said, you know, what are the kids do, what
keeps them motivated, what gives them the incentive to get
(29:45):
up and walk the hallways or get out of bed
when you're going through a tough time. And I listened
to what parents had to say, and I thought, Okay,
what if we could create this center of energy and excitement,
essentially an event space where kids and their families would
have things to look forward to and they could go
participate and they could be the stars. And that's how
(30:06):
we develop these secret studios where now patients will go
into the studio and artists, every artist that we have
played on iHeartRadio, and movie stars and TV stars have
come to these different cities inside the studios, and the
patients produce the shows, the patients interview the stars, and
the patients broadcast all of it into the hospital rooms,
(30:27):
not only in the building that they're in, sometimes in
campuses across the country, and that we've seen has helped
in the healing process. Some patients call less for pain
medication because they're happy, because they've forgotten for a moment
what they're going through, and we've had doctors report that
to us. So we didn't know what it was going
(30:47):
to be and how it was going to have an
impact in healing, but it has, and fortunately we continue
to build them.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
You're up to eleven, soon to have fourteen, is that right? Yeah,
we're going to have fourteen the new ones.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
A fifteenth is another one going into Atlanta and their
new hospital there, and then we've got two more that
we're going to announce real soon.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Well, thank you and congratulations on that. You always wanted
to be on the air since you were a kid,
and I'm sure you have exceeded your own wildest expectations.
But it comes at a price celebrity and not much privacy.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
How have you dealt with that?
Speaker 2 (31:23):
I have one sort of thought about that. It's everything
I ever wanted. If I were doing these jobs and
no one came up to me and said hi, then
they're not making the shows, aren't making a real impact.
So I love it when anybody walks up to me
anywhere and says hello, or hey, I heard you talking
about this, or you know what. I'm a big carry
(31:45):
Underwood fan. I remember the night that she won American Idol.
I was with my family, we were in the airport,
we were at a bar. I love that. So the
deal I made with myself was whenever I leave my home,
I'm out, I'm on right, like, I'm a little bit
of public property. And so if you want to take
a picture, if you want to say hello, if you
want to chat about something, I'm totally, absolutely fine with it.
(32:07):
As a matter of fact. When that stops, then I
have a problem. And the other thing, Bob, but we
talked about this too. I'm not the star of any
of the shows that I do. I put people in
the spotlight. I listen to people, I talk to people,
I interview people, I debut people, I celebrate people that
I'm not the star. You know, Live with Kelly and Ryan.
(32:28):
Kelly Rippa is the star of the show We Have
a Fortune, The game and the contestants are the star
of the show American Idol, the judges and the singers
are the star of the show. So that's my role.
And by having that role, I find that people don't
treat me like a star. They treat me like somebody
they know, and that's what I want.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Let's jump to some advice. If you could it was possible,
what advice would you give your fifteen year old self,
your twenty one year old self, and your thirty year
old self.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Oh man, so my fifteen year old self, the advice
would be to actually do a few things that are
fun in school, not just work all around class, right
like I worked a lot around class in football my twenties.
Something might be to carry a little less guilt when
I wasn't working, as I was saying, even if a
(33:16):
Sunday morning and I wasn't at the radio stations, like
why wasn't they there?
Speaker 4 (33:19):
Why didn't they want me to be there on Sunday?
I should be there, you know.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
So I think about those things throughout the years, and
I would tell my now I'm I don't want to say,
but yeah, now I'm into my forties. I would tell
you know, my thirty five, thirty six, thirty seven a
little more balanced, like find a hobby. I remember filling
out doctors not doctorsworms, it forms, whatever form you're filling
out for.
Speaker 4 (33:41):
They say, what are your hobbies?
Speaker 2 (33:43):
I was like, hm, I need to make something up
because I haven't had a chance to do anything like that.
So I thought that was a moment where I should
try and develop some hobbies. We end each episode with
a shout out to the greats of math and magic
and business marketing. The math person who has an incredibly
analytical mind and their success comes from that skill. And
the magic person, the promoter, the visionary, the dreamer who
(34:07):
achieved success.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
Through that path. Who are the two who get your
shout outs?
Speaker 2 (34:14):
There's one that I didn't meet and one that I
met for the Math. For the Math, the one I
wanted to meet would have been Walt Disney. The one
that I think about that I did meet is one
we spoke about in Dick Clark. And when I think
of the magic and we put Dick and Merv together,
I would put Merv in the magic category. He was
great in math, but the magic category. He had something special.
(34:37):
He had the magic wand he could just create an atmosphere,
an energy, a connection that I was in awe of.
And Chris Jenner, we talked about her earlier too.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
She has it.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
She has a magic wand she can do the math.
She's very smart with business, but she knows how to
create the magic. And I've been blessed with the op
cortinuy to be exposed to these people. Vote well, what's
the one that I would have loved to have met?
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Brian, you are truly a unicorn. You've not only done
things no one's ever done before but you've done them
in parallel, not in sequence, and you show no signs
of slowing down. Thanks for sharing your stories and insights.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Here are a few things I picked up from my
conversation with Ryan. One, have an open line of communication
with business partners. Bryan's relationships with brands are true collaborative partnerships,
and as a result, advertisers love being on Ryan's show.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Enter any business partnership with a clear.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Understanding of their goals, find out what success means to
them and what will move the needle, and work together
to achieve it.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
Two.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Foster and maintain meaningful relationships. People appreciate honesty, kindness, and
authenticity in any business, and Ryan is just as genuine
as he appears on tea on the radio. He was
able to lean on the connections he formed early in
his career, and this is one of the key elements
he attributes to his success.
Speaker 4 (36:09):
Three.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Make quick decisions time and time again. Ryan built his
career by making quick decisions.
Speaker 4 (36:15):
He did not.
Speaker 3 (36:16):
Miss the moment he saw an opening in the reality
TV space for the Kardashians before he even owned the camera.
Don't be afraid to make a quick decision when you
see the opportunity, it may pay off in more ways
than you ever imagine. I'm Bob Pittman. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
That's it for today's episode. Thanks so much for listening
to Math and Magic, a production of iHeart Podcasts. The
show is hosted by Bob Pittman. Special thanks to Sidney
Rosenblat for booking and wrangling our wonderful talent, which is
no small feat. Math and Magic's producers are Emily Meronoth
and Jessica Crimechech. It is mixed and mastered by Baheid Fraser.
(37:00):
Our executive producers are Nikki Etoor and Ali Perry, and
of course, of big thanks to Gail Raoul, Eric Angel
Noel and everyone who helped bring this show to your ears.
Until next time,
You're listening to Math and Magic, a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I think at the core what I get excited about,
what gets me up in the morning is connecting with
people in an unscripted, unvarnished way. Is getting to say
something to them, here back from them. Know that I'm
part of the routine, and I look forward to getting
on the air.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Welcome to Math and Magic, Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing.
I'm Bob Pittman, and on this episode, we're going to
chat with one of the world's most famous workaholics. Often
called the hardest working person in showbiz, he covers the spectrum, host, producer, promoter,
owner of radio and TV shows, events and products, entrepreneur, investor,
and a generous philanthropist. He's best known for his long
(00:49):
running stint as the host of American Idol. He's on
season twenty two and twenty years with us at iHeart
the iconic morning personality on LA's Kiss, and on air
with Ryan Seacrest on over one hundred radio stations nationwide.
Ryan is an almost Christmas baby from Atlanta, Georgia, but
is probably best known as part of the Hollywood establishment
(01:12):
for decades. Most people we talked to a math at
Magic had a childhood ambition that got disrupted for the
path they eventually took. Not Ryan, he has done what
he originally dreamed of doing and then some. He has
impeccable instincts, plus do organizational skills and discipline to bring
them to life. The Kardashians New Year's Eve on ABC,
(01:33):
six years of Live with Kelly and Ryan, American Top forty,
the iHeartRadio Music Festival, and coming soon he takes over
as the host of the legendary Wheel of Fortune place.
He's on the radio every morning, no matter what, How
does he do it all?
Speaker 4 (01:48):
And why?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
We'll dig into that in a few minutes. He's also,
by the way, a great guy and a good friend. Ryan. Welcome,
congrats on thanks for twenty years at iHeart.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
Thank you. I'm thrilled to be Bob, my fellow Capricorn friend.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Before we jump into the media topics, I want to
do you in sixty seconds.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
You ready? Okay? Great? Do you prefer cats or dogs? Dogs?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Early Riser Night Out Early Riser New York or Los
Angeles by Coastal Coca Pepsi Coca Cola, Atlanta boy Here,
Rock and Roller, country, country, coffee or tea so much
black coffee. Reality TV or TV dramas, Reality TV cook
(02:31):
or eat out?
Speaker 4 (02:32):
Cook and eat out, but I cook? Radio or TV? Well,
are you the chairman of iHeart radio? And I like TV?
Comedy or drama? Drama? Selfie or autograph? Autograph? This is
going to get really hard.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
All time favorite music artists Frank Sinatra, first job, Radio,
Favorite TV show from your childhood, Growing Pains, The Love Boat,
Beverly Hills, nine oh two, one Ohero. I can't choose
smartest person you know? My father, childhood hero. I'm my
father as well. Favorite sport to watch football, Favorite city
(03:08):
Atlants in New York, Los Angeles, I mean all of
my affiliates.
Speaker 4 (03:13):
A favorite place to visit Italy. And secret talent is
still searching. Okay, let's jump in.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Anytime I talk with anyone about you, the first words
out of their mouth are, he's a great guy. No
one ever calls you temperamental talent. How did you navigate
all you've done and not turn into the Hollywood prima Donna?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Well, I'm flattered to hear that people say that when
I'm not around, I think for me, it's just honesty
and simple this is what I always wanted to do.
I dreamt of doing what I get to do every
single day, and I remind myself of how it felt
when I didn't do it, and that drive, that how
that fire I had in my belly beforehand, and so
(03:58):
to have the privilege of doing it every day, I
remind myself to be grateful and treat it in such
a way.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
So, how has been a good reasonable guy helped your career?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Well? I think people appreciate relationships in any business, especially
in our business. I think people appreciate kindness and authenticity.
And I hope to think that people who I've met
and didn't have an opportunity to do something with right
away later we came back and we were eventually able
to collaborate because we maintained a good, friendly, kind relationship.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Although I read a long list of things you do,
the truth is that that's just a sampling of all
you do. Did you intend to do all those things
or did it just sneak up on you. I never
intended to do all of those things. I wanted to
move to Los Angeles when I was growing up in Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
I had a dream to do that. When I was
a teenager. I made that dream come true. When I
was nineteen, still a teenage, I studied the work of
Merv Griffin Dick Clark, both guys who had a radio
and TV career and both entrepreneurs and both asset owners,
and both very very smart but also very good presenters
(05:16):
on air. And I watched how they maneuvered the skills
of business and the skills of performance and what that
intersection was for them, And in my head I felt, Okay,
if I could take baby steps towards those paths, maybe
it would be the career that I'm looking for and
be fulfilling to me. But I didn't know how it
(05:37):
would all come together. I didn't know what the pieces
of the puzzle necessarily would be.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Simple question here on your personality. Do you love complexity
and what happens to you if you don't have enough
to do?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Maybe I love complexity, but I also love simplicity in
the form of efficiency. When I was growing up, was
always very very busy and hustling and rushing to the
next thing, and at the time that was you know,
I played football, believe it or not, as a kid,
and so we get up early, we go to the
weight room before class, we go to class, we go
to practice afterwards, then after that there'd be a four
(06:14):
h meeting or some sort of clug we'd have to
go to. Now remember my days being filled and loving
that sort of velocity in the day, And I think
I conditioned myself to thrive on motion and movement and
create emotion from that kind of motion. And so as
an adult, and as I put my professional life together,
(06:35):
I thought, how can I, if given the opportunity, do
multiple things, probably because I also have the fear of
all of it going away at some point, but do
multiple things in the most efficient way so that it
can be stacked into a morning, an afternoon, an evening,
a day a week, and create a formula that allows
(06:57):
me to jump into different roles, which I find very exciting.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
So do you think of your schedule as hectic or stimulating?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Well, when I read it, it's hectic, But then when
I get into it, I do find it exhilarating and stimulating.
And I prefer and I like the momentum the schedule
that I keep.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Does it propel you through the day, It does propel
me through the day.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
I've also gotten better, you know, as the years go by,
you know, you start to chip off a little wisdom.
And I have gotten better understanding balance. I used to
carry a lot of guilt Bob when I wasn't working.
So for example, if I had a Saturday and I
was going to the beach with some friends, I felt
a little guilt like why am I not trying to
get that big break, or why am I not trying
(07:43):
to leverage what I'm doing into something else. And I
remember going on vacations with my family, with my parents,
with my sister when I was in my early twenties,
and I always have my phone with me, and my
mom and dad said, why you why do you have
that phone with you? Well, well, in case the program
director of the radio station needs me or calls me
or wants me to come back to do a shift
(08:03):
because somebody is sick, I want to be able to
do that. And so I carried that with me for
a long time. But now I've gotten to the place
where I do believe in full focus and work and
preparation in the hours and blocks that I'm in production.
But I also believe in really expanding my horizon when
it comes to things that I love to do with wellness, food,
(08:24):
the hobbies that I'm into.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Almost every career is enabled by one unlikely or improbable
stroke of luck somewhere in the process. For me, it
was to jump from minimum wage part time radio announce
from Brookhaven, Mississippi, to programming this station and being on
the air at the big NBC owned radio station in
Chicago just five years later. What was yours and how
(08:48):
did it happen?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
One that I think about now and hone in on
is the big break of being the host of American Idol.
This came at a time when I was twenty six
seven years years old. I was on the radio in
Los Angeles doing afternoon drive. It had been on television
a little bit and gotten some good experience, but nothing
at the level with the impact of what was about
to come. And initially I met with the producers and
(09:11):
I was considered as a judge for American Idol. And
during the meeting with those executive producers, I started asking
about the host and they said, well, you could audition
for the host if you want, so I auditioned to
be the host of American Idol. After the audition that night,
they told me that I got the job and we
started shooting the next day. Literally the next morning we
started shooting.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
We were doing.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Audition Simon, Randy Paula. We were meeting in Hollywood to
do the auditions for the first season of the show
that had never been on the air.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
This was at the time Bup.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
You probably remember this when people were saying music does
not work on TV, right, Remember that, Well, I remember
those stories. I know those people, we know those people. Well,
it did work on TV. It started to become this massive,
massive event on television. And that was a moment that
I thought to myself, Wow, I'm lucky here right like
I got into this, I'm lucky.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
This is going to be a ride.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
How do I take this momentum and turn it into
something bigger at the same time, And that's when we
started having conversations with the management for American Top forty
and Kiss FM and the other things that you mentioned
at E where I went and hosted E News and
the red carpet shows and produced series for them. So
(10:24):
I would say being the host of that singing competition
show opened the door for all the things that they
came to fruition.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
How did you even get the audition?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
That was one that you know, in Hollywood, you have
representation and the agents call and say they're looking for
a host for this show. The audition was pretty interesting.
The audition was at the Fox lot in front of
the executives in a meeting room, and all they did
was say, Okay, here's a scenario. A contestant just lost
a family member. They sang an emotional song, they're crying.
(10:55):
You need to talk to them and turn to the
camera and get us a commercial break in thirty seconds
with Finn go.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Wait a minute, you can't leave us hanging. What did
you say? How did you handle that?
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I can't remember exactly how are what I said, but
I do remember thinking, Okay, this is a moment to
slow down and not say too much. That's the other
thing that I've learned. And of course this is an
audio format, so we're talking a lot. But another thing
that I learned hosting was just listening is the best
thing you can do when being a host.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
It's just to listen. So I just I think I
listened and maybe that's what they saw.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
So you started as your foundation as an on air
radio personality. You still do it today mornings on the
legendary KISSFM in Los Angeles, America Top forty. You're syndicated
on Aaron Ryan Seacrest on over one hundred stations nationwide,
plus one of the top shows on the iHeartRadio digital app.
Why the love of radio and after all your success
(11:47):
across all media, why is radio still so important to you?
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Love the connection to people.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
I think at the core what I get excited about,
what gets me up in the morning is connecting with
people in an unscripted, unvarnished way. Is getting to say
something to them, hear back from them, know that I'm
part of the routine, and I look forward to getting
on the air. I look forward to it. Just last night,
I went to dinner. I eat very early. I went
to dinner very early. I was trying to get into
(12:15):
a restaurant. It was five point thirty the first reservation.
I was there at five twelve. I was sitting outside.
It wasn't open, and I was standing on the curb,
and I'm texting the co hosts of my morning show,
you know, just sort of saying, hey, this is kind
of funny, let's talk about this tomorrow. That I'm always
the one standing outside waiting for a place to open,
and I can't wait to get in there and get
out in forty two minutes, And so in my mind
I'm thinking about the next day's show because I just
(12:37):
love to get up and connect and have that conversation
on a regular basis. That same thing about the radio shows,
and I've done it almost every day since i was
fourteen years old.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
I'm now not fourteen.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
But there's just something about the fluidity, about the autonomy
of conversation, of content, of topics that we get to
have in the radio show that's just real and hopefully relatable.
I love that, and I love you mentioned Wheel of Fortune.
I haven't done it yet, but I think I'm going
to love the opportunity to connect with three people every night,
(13:09):
meet three people from across the country, get to know
them for a half hour, and give away some money
and maybe a car, you know, cash and prizes.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
That's what drives me.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Advertisers love being on your show, and they really love
your endorsements. Talk about how you think about that and
how you interact with sponsors.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Well, we have done this together for a long time,
you and I and I truly believe and I realize
this that the sales department and the partnership with our
advertisers and clients. That's what fuels the platform. That's what
allows us as personalities influencers to get up every day
and have a place to talk and have a beacon.
Right Without the advertisers, we wouldn't be able to do
(13:51):
what we do. So there's a lot of value in
our relationship with them. And what's most important to me
is when an advertiser wants to be on one of
our programs, is to understand what they're trying to accomplish.
And we've asked them before meetings that you and I
have been in together, what will move the needle for you?
Not just getting on the air and talking about something,
(14:11):
but what really will make change or what really is
a success for you for this product, for this campaign,
for this season.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
And that's helpful.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You get really clear answers and have a very clear
path to success with an advertiser when you understand what
a win is for them.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
And I love to have that dialogue. Most people on
the radio would love to have your success. You're the
top of the heap. What do you think makes great
on air talent and what advice would you give to
anyone who wants to be you.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
It's difficult for me to give advice because everybody is
so different and everybody's got their own skill set.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
For me, I don't have a talent.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
I don't have a skill set per se except I
love to go. I love to prepare. I do take
it seriously while having fun. But preparation is a big
thing for me that I can control. When I was
a baby DJ, people who were wiser than I said,
you know, you got to have a point of view,
(15:15):
and you've got to be a good communicator with that
point of view and be your genuine self. And when
I was young and starting out, that was impossible to
do because I had imposter syndrome because I was eighteen
trying to play thirty five and always wanting to sound
like I fit in. But I do think that the
preparation is key. Having fun while taking it seriously and
(15:40):
being kind is a good formula.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
I remember when you first told us about the opportunity
to do the live TV show each day with Kelly
and explaining how you could get off the air in
New York and then do your daily radio show in
Los Angeles, and I ad met you and I've talked
about it before.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
I was skeptical.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
I couldn't imagine that anyone can handle that schedule. And oh,
by the way, he squeezed in American Idol. But you did,
and ratings actually went up. On your radio show, Live
with Kelly and Ryan was a top daytime show on TV.
An Idol was also a smash and you're not stopping.
So after six seasons, you've moved on from the daily
(16:18):
TV show to step into one of the most legendary
roles on TV, replacing Pat Sajack as the host of
Wheel of Fortune. Tell us why and how that happened.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Well, to think about that meeting with you, I don't
get nervous too much. I was a little nervous about
that meeting, right because I had to come in sounding
pretty confident that could pull it all off, even if
I wasn't quite sure if I could. And thank goodness,
it did work. And you know, those six years with
Kelly Rippa were amazing six years. She is such a
brilliant talent. She made me better. Sitting next to her
(16:52):
raised my game. You kind of have to. She's just
that good. And she can carry any conversation anywhere, at
any time, at any second it's thrown at her on
live television, and that's a show that has no script.
And I will tell you one of the things I
loved about that show having no script was because I
had so many years of radio experience where we don't
have a script, and that made it fun. It's a
(17:12):
little bit like doing a morning show Bob on TV, right,
the two of us sitting there talking about what we
did last night, And after traveling back and forth from
Los Angeles to New York a lot over the years,
it felt like a good time to try something else.
The opportunity for Wheel of Fortune came up. Fortunately we
made that deal. And no one will ever do what
(17:33):
Pat Sajack has done. He's a legend who had hosted
that show for so many years, I mean the episode's
record breaking episodes, and he became a companion and a
good friend to a lot of people in their living
rooms every single night with Vanna and me too. So
for me, it's a show that I know this country loves.
(17:53):
I know it's got a special place in a lot
of people's hearts because it's generational. They grew up with it,
maybe they learned something from it, maybe they got together
with their kids to watch it.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
I like that in the show.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
I like that it's fun, it's lighthearted, and at the
end of it, you make people really happy. At this
stage in my career, that's exciting. To do it in
the seven to eight time period is exciting, and I
kind of can't wait to get on the air that
starts in September Moral Math.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
And Magic right after this quick break. Welcome back to
Math and Magic. Let's hear more from my conversation with
Ryan Seacrest. So let's go back in time. I want
to put you in context. You were born in Atlanta, Georgia,
a very tight and supportive family, still have it. Can
(18:43):
you paint the picture of that time and place when
you were growing up?
Speaker 4 (18:48):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Yeah, this is when I found in love with radio.
I can smell the grass when I was mowing the
lawn with a Toro rear propelled lawnmower, and I was
listening at the time on my water resistant yellow Sony
Walkman to American Top forty hosted by Casey Kaseum, and
I pictured all of the artists he was playing. I
(19:12):
pictured him being in his studio in Hollywood, the glamour
of it all, and I just thought, Wow, this is
super cool that I'm listening in Atlanta to something coming
out of Hollywood about the biggest artists in the top forty.
And that's when I started to dream about doing it.
That's when I started to make tapes pretending I was
Casey Caseum and I go up into my bedroom and
I'd count down the hits from coast to coast, as
(19:34):
he would say, and make audio tapes with songs for
my mom and dad and my sister and I to
listen to when we would drive from Atlanta to Destin,
Florida for our one week summer vacation every year in
a Volvo station Wagon with the luggage carrier on top.
So I have vivid memories of those days dreaming about this.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Did your family worry about your obsession with radio.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
I don't know that they were. I think they saw
this is something that I am going to do. Either
they get to come on board or if they don't,
I'm going for it anyway. I remember telling my folks,
you know, I went to the University of Georgia in
about a year and a half in I wasn't sleeping.
I was so focused on trying to make it in
(20:19):
Los Angeles. I thought, I cannot get this out of
my system. That's all they think about. I'm obsessed with
going for it. I'm going to pack up my stuff,
I'm gonna get in my Honda, I'm going to go
out to Los Angeles. I have to tell my parents
I'm dropping out of college. This is not something that
they saw coming pretty traditional families, you know, Bob. My
mom and dad blessed. They've been married for fifty plus years,
(20:41):
and my father is a retired attorney. My mother's the
greatest mother in the world. So going to them to say, hey,
I'm quitting school and going to LA where we didn't
know anybody, I knew it was gonna be a tough one.
And they said, well, look, we can tell based on
what you're saying that if we're not supportive of this idea,
you're going to go anyway, and said, I think I am.
Now whether or not they thought it would work out,
(21:02):
I don't know what they really believed, but I knew
when I went out there, I wasn't going to come
back until I made it. I didn't want to come
home until I could say at least I've got a job.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
You went to La. Where did you live? You didn't
know anybody? Who did you say hello to? How did
you start? So my father was in the army.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
One of the guys he kept in touch with had
a son who was a teacher in LA.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
And so my mom says, hey, why don't you.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Call this guy and if you guys can connect, we
feel more comfortable if you would move in with him,
if he is cool with it, and you guys share
an apartment together, because we just don't know anybody out there.
So anyway, I went out. We stood in line to
get tickets to see the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
We watched that. That's when we first met and we
started talking. He said, yeah, we want to split a
one bedroom I'll do it. So we split a one
(21:52):
bedroom apartment in Burbank for three hundred and seventy five
dollars each. And that's where I started to live.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
You're living in this one an apartment with a roommate
and you don't know anybody in LA and you're going
to make it. How do you get into the system?
Who on earth did you call? What put your foot
in the door.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
So at the time when I moved out to Los Angeles.
I had been on the air while I was in
high school as a part time DJ at the radio station,
the pop station in Atlanta, WSTR Star ninety four FM.
And when I moved out to Los Angeles, there was
an affiliate of the American Top forty. And somehow I
(22:31):
got a name of somebody that was a program director
at Star ninety eight point seven in LA. And his
name was Randy Lane. And I called Randy Lane and
I left a message, and I called it, called and called,
and eventually I did get a call back from him,
and I said, look, I was a part time guy.
It just moved out to LA. I was on in Atlanta.
I'm just a kid. I'm trying to make it no problem.
Come in, we'll meet. We met the first shift I did, eventually,
(22:54):
after driving the van around and giving away tab Clear
in drugstore parking line. Remember that it was a big
promotion for tab Clear. I was doing, oh yeah, and
he said, why don't you do overnights Friday. It was
like midnight to five am, same thing Saturday.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
So that's what I did. I did overnights. I drove
the van and I.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Kept just chipping away and trying to show some ambition
in what I wanted to do for a living.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Did you ever think maybe I need to go back
to Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
No.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
I knew that no matter what or how hard or
you know, sleepless nights, whatever it was going to take,
I was going to do something so that I never
had to go back and say I didn't do it.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
I couldn't do it, I didn't make it.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
I had real fire, real drive to do something so
that I didn't have to go back. Not because I
didn't love Atlanta. I want to go back, but I
wanted to make it. I wanted to be right right.
I wanted the case that presented to my parents to
actually be legitimate.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
So you mentioned Murf Griffin and Dick Clark. Dick Clark,
I know, was someone you greatly admired, and he was
mentor of yours as well. What did you learn from
Dick Clark And how the hell did you meet Dick Clark?
Speaker 2 (24:05):
I called called Dick Clark when American Idol first started
after the first season.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
He was a he and Marbez.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
You said, these guys were guys I looked up to,
and I called his office and American Idol had aired,
So I figured I have a shot at meeting him,
and they set a meeting with him, and I went
into his offices in Burbank, and you know, I asked
him some questions and he was extremely focused on the
business while being the most congenial guy and making it
(24:33):
look so easy on TV.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
And I'll never forget what he did say to me.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
He did say to me, Okay, so everybody's probably gonna
think they can do what you do really well. You
want people to think that's easy. I could do that.
Who are watching you? Because if you're making it look
that easy, and we all know it's not. You're doing
a good job, making it seamless and making it comfortable.
If it looks difficult and hard, you're not doing a
(24:57):
good job. So I remember him telling me that, and
he also said you should try to own some things
and the shows that you do, really make sure you've
got some equity and the piece of them and some
control of those. And so I took that and eventually
we established a rapport, and eventually he invited me to
come on a co host with him after his stroke
on New Year's Rock and Eve. The first year immediately
(25:18):
Regis Philbin hosted with before Dick actually, and then after
Dick had me come in and co host with him,
and every year afterwards he would write me the most
beautiful letter about the night and the experience and just
just really kind words. So it was an honor to
(25:38):
take over for him once I did.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
You started your own production company two thousand and six
and almost immediately had a hit. What took you there
and looking back, what was the most important reason for
your success as a producer. How did you make that
jump from creative to business person?
Speaker 2 (25:58):
This is thinking of the ideas that MERV Griffin when
I sat with him, and Dick Clark when I sat
with him, These are the things that they said to
always be on the lookout for. I remember MRV saying, look,
once you're on a TV show where people are watching,
you can probably get a meeting with executives at different
networks to sell an idea. So I remember that and
we made the production deal. The Kardashians came along pretty fast.
(26:20):
I was watching the Osbornes at the time that was
on MTV, and I thought that was brilliant the way
that they were showing the family and thought, wow, there
could be you know, a real genre for this and
is there another interesting family with a lot of different
moving parts and people and things going on that people
might want to watch. And at the time, Chris Jenner
(26:40):
was thinking about doing a show with the family and
a casting director, Dina Katz. She knew that both of
us were in this aligned thinking pattern about this kind
of show and this genre in seat up a meeting
with the two of us, and Chris Jenner and I
had that meeting and afterwards we made a deal to
go shoot a pilot of the Kardashians. And I, at
(27:02):
the time at the production company didn't own I didn't
own a camera. We didn't have anything, no equipment. So
I remember Elliott, who worked for me at the time.
He went out and he bought a camera. He went
to the valley to the Kardashians house over a weekend
and he just.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
Shot a backyard barbecue. He called me after he shot.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
He said, I think we've got something here, and of
course we saw it. We put the tape together. I
think Chris Jenner still has the pilot tape somewhere. Initially
we pitched it to E and it didn't stick in
The pitch was going to go somewhere else and I
remember calling Ted Harbert, who was the president of E
at the time, and saying, I really think we should
(27:41):
try and do this here and and Chris, to her credit, said,
they are going to let the cameras follow everything.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
They're going to be vulnerable. That's just the way they're
going to treat this. And I made one more push
and they bought it.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
And then what happened was we had to move quick,
and we made that show very fast to air, and
the rest sort of well, you know.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
And that was your jump the business person.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
That was the jump I think you know making and
you're good at this making a quick decision, right. I mean,
I like to digest, but I also have found this
sometimes you don't get the opportunity to do that, and
if you can make a quick decision, it can pay off.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Philanthropy, you've always been concerned about others. It shows on
the air. It's probably what makes you you. Listeners can
feel it. But you've also given your time and your
money directly to causes that matter to you and move
you can you tell us a little bit about that,
and specifically about the Ryan Seacrest Foundation of what you're
doing in pediatric hospitals.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Well, this is something that is my greatest work and
it is something that we are fortunate enough to do.
My mom, my dad, my sister, and I at the
Ryan Seacrest Foundation and a great team based out of Nashville.
Now we have built media centers, TV content centers, radio centers,
green screen centers in fifteen pediatric hospitals across the country.
(29:00):
We're in the lobby of pediatric hospitals everywhere from Boston
to Philly to Atlanta and many more to come. And
when you walk into the lobby, you'll see this cool
area behind the glass that looks like a studio that
we would work in, and it's a place for kids
and their families to go to escape. It's the one
room in the hospital where they're not giving shots, doctors
(29:21):
aren't telling you what you have to do, there's no
treatment in there. It's all about escaping and tapping into creativity.
And this idea came after I had visited pediatric hospitals
around the country and spoken with parents, After I met
kids in their hospital beds and I just asked them questions.
I said, you know, what are the kids do, what
keeps them motivated, what gives them the incentive to get
(29:45):
up and walk the hallways or get out of bed
when you're going through a tough time. And I listened
to what parents had to say, and I thought, Okay,
what if we could create this center of energy and excitement,
essentially an event space where kids and their families would
have things to look forward to and they could go
participate and they could be the stars. And that's how
(30:06):
we develop these secret studios where now patients will go
into the studio and artists, every artist that we have
played on iHeartRadio, and movie stars and TV stars have
come to these different cities inside the studios, and the
patients produce the shows, the patients interview the stars, and
the patients broadcast all of it into the hospital rooms,
(30:27):
not only in the building that they're in, sometimes in
campuses across the country, and that we've seen has helped
in the healing process. Some patients call less for pain
medication because they're happy, because they've forgotten for a moment
what they're going through, and we've had doctors report that
to us. So we didn't know what it was going
(30:47):
to be and how it was going to have an
impact in healing, but it has, and fortunately we continue
to build them.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
You're up to eleven, soon to have fourteen, is that right? Yeah,
we're going to have fourteen the new ones.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
A fifteenth is another one going into Atlanta and their
new hospital there, and then we've got two more that
we're going to announce real soon.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Well, thank you and congratulations on that. You always wanted
to be on the air since you were a kid,
and I'm sure you have exceeded your own wildest expectations.
But it comes at a price celebrity and not much privacy.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
How have you dealt with that?
Speaker 2 (31:23):
I have one sort of thought about that. It's everything
I ever wanted. If I were doing these jobs and
no one came up to me and said hi, then
they're not making the shows, aren't making a real impact.
So I love it when anybody walks up to me
anywhere and says hello, or hey, I heard you talking
about this, or you know what. I'm a big carry
(31:45):
Underwood fan. I remember the night that she won American Idol.
I was with my family, we were in the airport,
we were at a bar. I love that. So the
deal I made with myself was whenever I leave my home,
I'm out, I'm on right, like, I'm a little bit
of public property. And so if you want to take
a picture, if you want to say hello, if you
want to chat about something, I'm totally, absolutely fine with it.
(32:07):
As a matter of fact. When that stops, then I
have a problem. And the other thing, Bob, but we
talked about this too. I'm not the star of any
of the shows that I do. I put people in
the spotlight. I listen to people, I talk to people,
I interview people, I debut people, I celebrate people that
I'm not the star. You know, Live with Kelly and Ryan.
(32:28):
Kelly Rippa is the star of the show We Have
a Fortune, The game and the contestants are the star
of the show American Idol, the judges and the singers
are the star of the show. So that's my role.
And by having that role, I find that people don't
treat me like a star. They treat me like somebody
they know, and that's what I want.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Let's jump to some advice. If you could it was possible,
what advice would you give your fifteen year old self,
your twenty one year old self, and your thirty year
old self.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Oh man, so my fifteen year old self, the advice
would be to actually do a few things that are
fun in school, not just work all around class, right
like I worked a lot around class in football my twenties.
Something might be to carry a little less guilt when
I wasn't working, as I was saying, even if a
(33:16):
Sunday morning and I wasn't at the radio stations, like
why wasn't they there?
Speaker 4 (33:19):
Why didn't they want me to be there on Sunday?
I should be there, you know.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
So I think about those things throughout the years, and
I would tell my now I'm I don't want to say,
but yeah, now I'm into my forties. I would tell
you know, my thirty five, thirty six, thirty seven a
little more balanced, like find a hobby. I remember filling
out doctors not doctorsworms, it forms, whatever form you're filling
out for.
Speaker 4 (33:41):
They say, what are your hobbies?
Speaker 2 (33:43):
I was like, hm, I need to make something up
because I haven't had a chance to do anything like that.
So I thought that was a moment where I should
try and develop some hobbies. We end each episode with
a shout out to the greats of math and magic
and business marketing. The math person who has an incredibly
analytical mind and their success comes from that skill. And
the magic person, the promoter, the visionary, the dreamer who
(34:07):
achieved success.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
Through that path. Who are the two who get your
shout outs?
Speaker 2 (34:14):
There's one that I didn't meet and one that I
met for the Math. For the Math, the one I
wanted to meet would have been Walt Disney. The one
that I think about that I did meet is one
we spoke about in Dick Clark. And when I think
of the magic and we put Dick and Merv together,
I would put Merv in the magic category. He was
great in math, but the magic category. He had something special.
(34:37):
He had the magic wand he could just create an atmosphere,
an energy, a connection that I was in awe of.
And Chris Jenner, we talked about her earlier too.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
She has it.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
She has a magic wand she can do the math.
She's very smart with business, but she knows how to
create the magic. And I've been blessed with the op
cortinuy to be exposed to these people. Vote well, what's
the one that I would have loved to have met?
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Brian, you are truly a unicorn. You've not only done
things no one's ever done before but you've done them
in parallel, not in sequence, and you show no signs
of slowing down. Thanks for sharing your stories and insights.
Speaker 4 (35:17):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Here are a few things I picked up from my
conversation with Ryan. One, have an open line of communication
with business partners. Bryan's relationships with brands are true collaborative partnerships,
and as a result, advertisers love being on Ryan's show.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Enter any business partnership with a clear.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Understanding of their goals, find out what success means to
them and what will move the needle, and work together
to achieve it.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
Two.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Foster and maintain meaningful relationships. People appreciate honesty, kindness, and
authenticity in any business, and Ryan is just as genuine
as he appears on tea on the radio. He was
able to lean on the connections he formed early in
his career, and this is one of the key elements
he attributes to his success.
Speaker 4 (36:09):
Three.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Make quick decisions time and time again. Ryan built his
career by making quick decisions.
Speaker 4 (36:15):
He did not.
Speaker 3 (36:16):
Miss the moment he saw an opening in the reality
TV space for the Kardashians before he even owned the camera.
Don't be afraid to make a quick decision when you
see the opportunity, it may pay off in more ways
than you ever imagine. I'm Bob Pittman. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
That's it for today's episode. Thanks so much for listening
to Math and Magic, a production of iHeart Podcasts. The
show is hosted by Bob Pittman. Special thanks to Sidney
Rosenblat for booking and wrangling our wonderful talent, which is
no small feat. Math and Magic's producers are Emily Meronoth
and Jessica Crimechech. It is mixed and mastered by Baheid Fraser.
(37:00):
Our executive producers are Nikki Etoor and Ali Perry, and
of course, of big thanks to Gail Raoul, Eric Angel
Noel and everyone who helped bring this show to your ears.
Until next time,
Host
Bob Pittman
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