This guy's an American Idol - and a poster child for You, Inc. From FT: A mogul on the air everywhere

It is a rare moment when Ryan Seacrest is not in front of a television camera or radio microphone. One of the busiest presenters in broadcasting, the 35-year-old with the blinding white teeth has become an indelible presence on America's airwaves. His jobs include hosting a daily radio show that attracts more than 20m listeners, presenting the American Top 40 chart countdown, hosting a daily entertainment news show for the E! cable channel and, for more than three years, presenting American Idol , the biggest ratings winner of the past decade.

Yet today there are no cameras or microphones to be seen. The patio doors in his office are flung open to the afternoon sun and an impressive view of the Los Angeles skyline. He jumps up to shake hands, his BlackBerry is placed out of reach on a coffee table and he begins outlining his grand plan for media moguldom. "You have to master compartmentalisation," he says.

Mr Seacrest's relentless presenting activities mean he is already a household name in the US. But it is his work as a producer and the commercial deals he has negotiated for his company, Ryan Seacrest Productions, which suggest his talents extend beyond being good on TV. His latest series, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution , is the English chef's first programme in the US and comes to an end this Friday. Loosely based on Mr Oliver's UK programmes which took aim, among other things, at school dinners, the US show aims to shake up American attitudes to food and health: one recent scene showed a classroom of young children failing to identify common vegetables, like tomatoes. "It was just staggering," says Mr Seacrest.

The programme scored the best Friday night ratings in three years for Walt Disney's ABC network when it launched last month.

The Jamie Oliver show has little in common with other programmes RSP has produced, such as the reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians , which turned three sisters from the Los Angeles suburbs into pin-up stars. But Mr Seacrest says the idea is to tackle a range of genres. "I want to produce content that's socially conscious as well as pop candy entertainment," he explains. "We don't target one type of show . . . we try to come up with things that are popular."

He is not alone in making the move from in front to behind the camera. Other stars, from model and chatshow host Tyra Banks to his American Idol colleague Simon Cowell, have produced shows in which they do not appear. But Mr Seacrest has carved a lucrative niche thanks to a willingness to embed marketing campaigns with his programming and presenting.

"I try to forge more creative relationships with advertisers," he says, reeling off a list of partners that includes Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble, which struck a deal with Mr Seacrest through its Crest toothpaste brand - fitting, given his shiny white gnashers. He says advertisers need ways to cut through "all the noise" in the overcrowded media marketplace. "Big companies and advertisers are looking for ways to get their messages through to their audiences and to make those messages stick," he adds.

His relationship with Microsoft's Bing search engine is one example. When Bing launched last year, he featured it heavily on his radio show and regularly points out new features to his listeners, such as the Bing BlackBerry application. He also promotes the search engine on his Twitter feed, where he has more than 3m followers.

Eric Hadley, who runs marketing for the search engine in the US, says Microsoft was looking for new ways to connect with consumers. "We wanted to make Bing culturally relevant and part of the dialogue . . . Ryan has broad appeal. He has social currency and social influence," he says.

One reason is that he is on air so much. The presenter cites Merv Griffin and Dick Clark as his inspirations: both men presented numerous programmes but also owned intellectual property - Griffin created the Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune game shows, for example. "I don't get up every morning and say, 'How can I get on TV today?' " says Mr Seacrest. "I'm building something here that runs without me having to stand in front of or beside a camera."

And yet he says his role as a presenter means he can strike commercial deals that are more effective - mainly because he takes on so many roles on and off camera. "If I'm producing a series with an integrated [marketing] message in it I'm the one meeting advertisers," he says. "I talk to the big guys [at these companies] on a regular basis about what's working. And I'm on the front lines hosting the show or producing the show."

Mr Seacrest started RSP in 2006 with help from Comcast, which rents him space for his offices and has a "first look" production deal for his shows, meaning the right to broadcast them before anyone else. He owns the company, which employs 30 people, outright.

He generated headlines two years ago when he struck a three-year deal worth an estimated $35m with Clear Channel for his radio shows. The agreement broke new ground because it gave Mr Seacrest control of some of the airtime on the shows, allowing him to sell his own advertising and embed his marketing partners into the programming.

They certainly help drive his earnings: in addition to the Clear Channel deal, his three-year contract for American Idol is worth $45m and he has a $35m agreement with Comcast, owner of the E! channel. He declines to give earnings figures for RSP, but given the value of his personal deals are his employers concerned that he has too much on his mind? "I'd be lying if I said it made me happy," says Ted Harbert, chief executive of Comcast's entertainment group. "But I feel fortunate that we got him . . . I know how hard he works for us. I never feel that when he's in our building that he's thinking about American Idol . He can get a lot done - more than just about anyone I've ever seen."

Mr Oliver, who has become a friend since the two started working together, adds Mr Seacrest has "laser focus . . . he loves what he does, whether it's presenting his radio show, hosting Idol or having a production meeting at RSP".

Mr Seacrest admits he would like to own his own distribution platform and says he has considered potential purchases. "I would be interested at some point in owning a cable channel or a similar kind of pipe [for our content]," he says. But until then he is content to work multiple jobs, knowing that the more ubiquitous he becomes the more opportunities he can offer advertisers. "The mission is to create pop culture content," he says. "Where it's distributed I will leave to someone else to figure out."

A Ryan Seacrest day

4:30am: Wake up. 5:00am-10:00am: KIIS FM morning show. 10:15am: E! News show meeting. 10:30am: E! News voice-overs. 10:45am: Get camera ready. 11:15am: E! News recording. 12:30pm: Lunch. 1:00pm: Ryan Seacrest Productions staff meeting. 3:00pm: Meetings with RSP colleagues. 4:00pm: American Idol production meeting. 6:00pm: Gym. 7:00pm: Return phone calls and eat dinner. 8:00pm: Sleep.

via ft.com

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