'''Ryan John Seacrest''' (born December 24, 1974) is an American radio and television personality, most famous as the host of the reality-television talent-search series ''
American Idol''.
Early career
Born in Dunwoody, Georgia, Seacrest began his broadcasting career at age 16 while still in high school as an evening radio host for WSTR FM. He also hosted "teen night" at Green's nightclub on Peachtree Industrial Road in the Atlanta suburb of Chamblee. While at Dunwoody High School, he led the morning announcements with Mother Vinegar drummer Kevin Cassels, a fellow 1993 graduate. Seacrest went on to attend the University of Georgia, where he majored in journalism. An internship at a radio station led him to host his own local show.
At age 19, he dropped out of the University of Georgia and headed west to pursue a career in radio and television. There he hosted an afternoon radio program on the Los Angeles radio station KYSR, Star 98.7, from 1995 to 2003. One of his earliest jobs in the television business was as a host of ''Click'', a children's show. He also appeared on ''Blind Date'' in 2000 when he was still relatively unknown nationally.
Breakthrough
Seacrest's first major television job was as the host of ''The New Edge'', a weekend morning show created by CNET showcasing new technology. Later he was a co-host, with Yahoo's Maria Sansone, of the syndicated ''Gladiators 2000''. During college, Seacrest hosted ESPN's ''Radical Outdoor Challenge'' program; this led him to a series of television hosting jobs which culminated in the position as co-host of the hit reality TV series ''
American Idol'' in 2002 with Brian Dunkleman. The following year, Seacrest became the sole host. In 2003, he also hosted the spin-off show, ''
American Juniors''.
In January 2004, Seacrest launched a daily entertainment/variety/talk syndicated television program, ''On Air With Ryan Seacrest.'' However, due to low ratings, the show was cancelled and aired its last episode on September 17, 2004. Also in 2004, Seacrest created a new sign-off phrase for himself, "Seacrest . . . ''Out''", with hopes that it would become a catch phrase. Unfortunately, it was so poorly received that both the catch phrase and Seacrest became the targets of derision and lampooning; in 2006 he stopped using it.
On January 10, 2004, Seacrest became the new host of the radio program ''American Top 40'', created and formerly hosted by Casey Kasem, syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks. Prior to taking over as host, Ryan was a substitute host four times in 2003 (during the final months of Kasem's tenure).
