On Air with Ryan Seacrest

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On Air with Ryan Seacrest is the name given to two programs hosted by Ryan Seacrest: one seen on television for several months in 2004, and a daily radio program heard in the Los Angeles area since 2004.

[edit] Television series

The television show named On Air with Ryan Seacrest was a short lived American syndicated television talk show, which ran from January 12, 2004, through September 17, 2004. The show was broadcast live from a studio in the Hollywood and Highland complex in Hollywood and featured a background view of the street scene below.

On Air struggled in the ratings throughout its short run. It featured well-known guests, and capitalized upon the fact that host Ryan Seacrest concurrently hosted American Idol by featuring contestants who had been eliminated from the popular talent program the night before. It was mainly crippled by the fact that it was launched in midseason, a rare occurrence for a syndicated program. During the Summer of 2004, On Air with Ryan Seacrest launched a mass advertising campaign to attract viewers, but it had little effect. By August 2004, 65% of television broadcasters that had purchased On Air had removed the show from their schedules, and production of the series ended on September 17.

[edit] Radio program

Seacrest also hosts a daily morning radio show on Los Angeles top 40 station KIIS, also called On Air with Ryan Seacrest. It was launched at the same time as the television show, although Seacrest had hosted a similar show in afternoon drive on sister station KYSR from 1995 until 2003.

Currently "On Air with Ryan Seacrest" can be heard weekday mornings in Los Angeles County and through the KIIS-FM website. The show is broadcast from the E! Entertainment Studios in the Mid-Wilshire District of Los Angeles. It is set for national launch in spring 2008 through Premiere Radio Networks.

The program, which features a former local news correspondent by the name of Ellen K, includes many popular segments. 'Lil Ally' features a twelve year old girl making crank-calls, 'Sixty-Seconds of Sleeze' is the entertainment news segment provided by Ellen K. One of the most popular segments is called 'Ryan's Roses': listeners call in with the suspicion that their significant other is cheating. An 'On Air' staff member then calls the accused cheater imitating a florist who wishes to offer them a dozen free roses to be sent to anybody of their choosing. Often the accused cheater, in the event that they are in fact cheating, will send the flowers to the "wrong person". This often results in the truth pouring out and an argument between the couple moderated by Ryan. (This was a concept first used on Sydney's Kyle and Jackie O Show, the breakfast show for 2DAY FM which is affiliated with KIIS.)