Seacrest unconcerned by 'American Idol' ratings
Plenty has been written -- not so much here here, but elsewhere -- about the supposedly massive slippage in American Idol ratings this season. Naturally, the topic of conversation made its way onto a Wednesday (Jan. 23) conference call regarding Idol host Ryan Seacrest's Super Bowl involvement.
"Why has there been slippage?" Seacrest muses. "Well, it depends on how you look at that. The show went up 10 percent and then, I think, went back one percent last year, so in theory it's done much better when you compare it to when it first launched. I believe that this year, we have more interesting -- and you haven't seen them all, I have -- but we have more interesting and more talented contestants than ever before and I think our judges put through the right people and our producers did a great job in the storytelling. I believe, very very strongly, that the ratings from premiere will continue to grow, especially as you get to know the contestants and root for them."
In addition to his radio show, E! news duties and that little FOX show with the allegedly slipping ratings, Seacrest will be hosting a new portion of the Super Bowl pre-game concentrating on celebrities and musical artists. Among those scheduled to perform -- at least in a filmed video for her new single "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" -- are Seacrest's Idol cohorts Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. In fact, the only member of the core Idol quartet not scheduled to appear before the Patriots-Giants showdown is Simon Cowell, a fact that isn't lost on Seacrest.
"It is with great pleasure that Randy and Paula and I will appear on the highest rated telecast of the year, one of which he's not appearing on," he says. "One of the driving forces behind this decision for me was just to know that we would get the ratings the next day, it's going to be bigger than the show that he is on and I can send them to Simon immediately."
[It's here that FOX Sports honcho David Hill adds, "Having said that, if Simon wants to come on and read Wordsworth, that's fine."]
Finally, it isn't a conference call with Ryan Seacrest if somebody doesn't ask the ubiquitous host if he fears over-exposure.
"All of the time. I think about it. I obviously am multi-tasking and doing a lot of different things at once, but I stay within the same business, if you will. I really stay within the brand of programming that I'm most comfortable with and that is these lives television events, whether it be American Idol or New Year's Eve or now the Super Bowl, that's fortunately what I'm most comfortable doing and hopefully I can do a good job."
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