NEW YORK — Taking a full year to name a replacement for Michael Strahan beside Kelly Ripa on the morning chat show "Live" paid off in a big way for producers, who roped in Ryan Seacrest as co-host.
The former "American Idol" host debuted Monday on show, giving Ripa a marquee name to banter with at when she is about to go head-to head with Megyn Kelly on NBC's "Today" show. The stretch of guest co-hosts dragged on so long that there were rumors Ripa was more interested in going it alone than in finding a regular to join her.
That was never the case, said Michael Gelman, the show's executive producer. But Seacrest probably would not have been available had the show moved more quickly, he said. Discussions with him about joining the show full-time started after he co-hosted around the time of the Oscars, the sixth time Seacrest had filled that role, Gelman said.
"He's a master of live television," Gelman said. "He's done so many live and taped shows. He is really an experienced broadcaster. You put the two of them together and it's a terrific team."
Seacrest, 42, is a busy show-biz presence, hosting ABC's New Year's Eve show, red carpet coverage on E! Entertainment and a daily Los Angeles-based radio show. He has his own production company. But the ending of "American Idol" gave that show's host less of a regular television presence.
He'll move to New York for the new job, although he will continue his radio show.
Seacrest's hiring is a coup for "Live" in that producers won't have to break in somebody new to the audience, said Bill Carroll, a veteran consultant and expert on the daytime television market.
"It was unexpected," Carroll said. "I thought it would be somebody we don't know, and it turned out be someone we know quite well."
