Ryan Seacrest to sell his own ads

As an American Idol host, American Top 40 radio DJ, and anointed successor to talk show god Larry King, Ryan Seacrest is the 76th best-paid celebrity in America, earning $14 million a year, according to Forbes.

Now, he's looking to up his income astronomically. Mr. Seacrest has signed a new contract for his five-hour radio show with Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU), and it comes with an interesting twist. According to the Wall Street Journal(subscription required), "Mr. Seacrest will own and control a portion of the advertising time on the show. The goal: bringing in some of the sponsors he already has a relationship with on television, with the potential fringe benefit of getting them more interested in radio. He will also sell some of his own advertising on the "American Top 40" radio countdown."

Mr. Seacrest's ad selling duties will apply to ads integrated into the show -- for instance, saying that a coming song is "brought to you by" a brand. The more ubiquitous between song commercial breaks will still be handled by the networks.

Reading the Journal article, you get a feel for what a savvy entrepreneur Mr. Seacrest is -- he's more than the smirky metrosexual that he comes across as on American Idol.

With traditional radio outlets struggling to say relevant in the face of what are seen as more viable advertising outlets like the internet, the networks are on the lookout for new ways to sell ads. If this works, we could see a lot more of it in the future.