Ryan Seacrest joins 94.7, Kfm

On Air with Ryan Seacrest debuts tonight, Monday, March 9, 2009, on Joburg's 94.7 Highveld Stereo and will be rolled out to Cape Town's 94.5Kfm in the next two weeks.

The show will feature the hottest celebrity news and gossip told by arguably one of the best connected personalities in Hollywood.

From baby news to couples heading towards splitsville, Seacrest will deliver the daily scoop on the latest happenings with America's favourite stars. His show will take listeners on a ride, steering them through the heart of Hollywood and making them feel as if they're right there in the passenger seat.

Seacrest's show is syndicated to a number of stations in the United States and Canada, as well as 987fm in Singapore, but this is the first time he will broadcast to the Southern Hemisphere.

“Ryan is synonymous with celebrity news and our listener research has revealed that our audience is hungry to hear the latest gossip. So as opposed to us just dishing out the dirt, we thought it would be better for listeners to get it straight from the horse's mouth!” said 94.7 Highveld Stereo station manager, Ravi Naidoo.

“Radio is also Ryan's first love so not only will he give us the news, but also present it in a slick and professional manner. He makes people feel comfortable and his magnetic personality attracts high profile celebrities. Because of this he's frequently the first to land exclusive interviews, and has gone one-on-one with celebrities such as Fergie, Madonna, P Diddy, Jessica Simpson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez and many, many more.”

On Air with Ryan Seacrest goes out daily from 5am to 10am on Kiis FM in Los Angeles. Taking the 10-hour time delay into consideration, Highveld and Kfm will be hot on the heels of the live show with content coming through four hours before listeners get their daily fix at 7pm.

This fast-paced programme will be the stations' first pre-packaged show, but will retain a local flavour. Seacrest has already recorded station imaging, as well as references to specific songs.

Furthermore, to maintain an interactive feel, which is a strong focus across 94.7 and Kfm, the Top 8@8 feature will remain and will become more listener-driven than ever.

“Listeners will compile the music line-up, provide the links between songs and recap the chart,” said Naidoo. “The new top 8@8 will be contained on-air with Ryan but primarily driven by our listeners.”

A long-time broadcaster, Seacrest gained fame as host of the Fox reality show American Idol. Today, in addition to hosting American Idol, he is also a co-host of the entertainment-news show E! News, and producer of reality shows Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Denise Richards: It's Complicated.