Ryan Seacrest Is Officially A ‘Special Correspondent’ For NBC’s Today Show

The New York Times‘ Brian Stelter is reporting that Ryan Seacrest just signed a contract to become a special correspondent for NBC’s Today Show. The contract was signed Friday afternoon.

Seacrest’s new two-year contract with NBCUniversal “is said to span the news, entertainment and sports divisions of NBCUniversal, giving Mr. Seacrest a chance to contribute to “Today,” election coverage, prime-time entertainment shows, and coverage of sporting events.”

It also reduces his on-camera role on E! — “but he will continue to host and produce the channel’s ‘Live From the Red Carpet’ shows. He will also occasionally contribute segments and celebrity interviews, according to a news release on Friday.”

NBCUniversal called the contract a “groundbreaking multi-platform agreement.” According to Stelter, “It had been in the works for months, designed to take advantage of the fact that Comcast (the owner of E! and other channels) last year took control of NBCUniversal (the owner of the NBC network and other channels).”

In a nutshell: it gives Seacrest higher profile work while reducing his presence on E! News.

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