(CNN) Howard Stern may call himself the "King of All Media," but Ryan Seacrest may have a better claim to that title.
Consider the host, producer and mogul's list of credits: "American Idol," one of the most popular shows in television history. "American Top 40," the venerable radio countdown long led by Casey Kasem.
A fashion line, Ryan Seacrest Distinction. A charitable foundation for pediatric hospitals. Jennifer Lopez's new NBC cop show, "Shades of Blue." The Kardashian reality shows as well as E! News, of which he's managing editor. "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve."
He's almost always in the public eye (or ear), whether it's overseeing the "Rockin' Eve" extravaganza -- which he just did for the 11th year -- or chatting on his radio show on Los Angeles' KIIS-FM.
Not seeing enough Seacrest? For the next five months, he'll be even more ubiquitous as "Idol" returns for its 15th and final season, starting January 6.
'American Idol' stars: Where are they now?
"American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest, left, and judges Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban were on hand for the final season of the show.. Fox ended the reality series in 2016 after 15 seasons. More than a year later
ABC announced it would be bringing it back. Let's catch up with some of the winners:
Trent Harmon won the last season of "Idol" in April 2016. In December he released his self-titled country EP which included the single "There's A Girl."
Seacrest, left, named Nick Fradiani the winner of season 14 of "American Idol" in May 2015. While his single "Beautiful Life" was
the official theme for the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, his 2016 album "Hurricane" didn't generate much energy. He parted ways with his record label last year and is currently an indie artist.
Caleb Johnson never landed in the bottom three while he was on the show. The Asheville, North Carolina, native went up against Jena Irene and was crowned the winner of season 13. His debut album, "Testify," was released in August 2014
and had the lowest first-week sales of any winner.
Candice Glover won season 12, the first female contestant to win since 2007. Her debut album, "Music Speaks," was released in February 2014. She announced
on her Facebook page that her sophomore album would contain songs written by her.
"American Idol" started its new season in early January, but not all is well with past winner Phillip Phillips. In January 2015, the season 11 winner filed a claim against 19 Entertainment, the show's producers, saying he was "manipulated" into accepting jobs.
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that he's trying to void various agreements.
Since Scotty McCreery was crowned the winner of season 10 in 2011, the singer's debut album, "Clear As Day," has been certified platinum. He was named the Academy of Country Music's best new artist in 2012 and released his second studio album, "See You Tonight," in 2013. At the start of 2015,
McCreery announced his next project would be classic country.
Lee DeWyze had released two albums before auditioning for season 9 of "American Idol." After his win, he went on to release a third album, "Live It Up," with RCA Records in 2010. But a year later, the record label dropped DeWyze when the album sold just over 146,000 copies. He has since married model Jonna Walsh, signed with a new label and
returned to "Idol" to perform his song "Silver Lining." In 2014,
he also wrote a song for "The Walking Dead" soundtrack.
Like DeWyze, Kris Allen had released an album before he got on "American Idol." After a very heated battle with Adam Lambert, Allen won season 8 in 2009. After a car accident in which he broke his wrist on New Year's Day 2013,
Allen told the Chicago Tribune he was "more driven since 'Idol' " and released his third album, "Horizons," in August 2014. In December 2015 he announced his 2016 "Letting You In Tour" in support of an album scheduled for spring 2016.
David Cook rocked a win in a close competition with David Archuleta on season 7. The same year, he released "David Cook," which has been certified platinum. Cook parted ways with RCA Records in 2012. In 2013, he performed a new single on "Idol," "Laying Me Low," which debuted on the charts with 14,000 sales,
USA Today reported. He released his fourth studio album, "Digital Vein" in September 2015.
Jordin Sparks made history by becoming the youngest winner of "American Idol" at age 17. After she won season 6 in 2007, her eponymous debut album that year went platinum and featured the hit single "No Air." Sparks' second album, "Battlefield," was released in 2009, and its namesake single peaked on the charts. In 2012, she starred in "Sparkle," Whitney Houston's last movie. Her album, "Right Here, Right Now," debuted in August 2015.
Taylor Hicks' blues-meets-rock style earned him a following that led to his win on season 5, beating favorite (and now actress) Katharine McPhee. His self-titled debut album was certified platinum, and his single "Do I Make You Proud" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles. Hicks released "The Distance" in 2008 on his independent record label, Modern Whomp. In 2014
he played a residency in Las Vegas.
Carrie Underwood went from college student to winner of season 4 in 2005. Her debut album, "Some Hearts," was certified seven times platinum, and she has gone on to win multiple Grammy Awards. In 2013, she starred in a live television version of "The Sound of Music." Married to hockey player Mike Fisher, Underwood gave birth to their first child, son Isaiah Michael Fisher, in February 2015.
Fantasia Barrino defeated Diana DeGarmo on season 3 of "American Idol" in 2004. She then released her debut album, "Free Yourself," which was certified platinum that same year. Barrino won her first Grammy Award in 2011 for the single "Bittersweet," from her third album, "Back to Me." She has appeared on Broadway in "The Color Purple," been the subject of her own reality show and in April 2013 released an album, "Side Effects of You." These days fans get most of their news about her via the singer's
Instagram account. She revealed in July 2015 that she and boyfriend Kendall Lamar had wed.
The moment Kelly Clarkson became the first winner of "American Idol," she became a household name. Since her debut, "Thankful," she has released five additional studio albums and hit singles like "Because of You" and "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)." In 2013, she married talent manager Brandon Blackstock, and the couple welcomed a daughter in June 2014. She announced in October 2015 that she was pregnant with her second child.
But though "Idol" was the major springboard to Seacrest's fame, "Rockin' Eve" may be equally important because of the man Seacrest succeeded: his mentor, Dick Clark.
"I studied him as a kid, and I had the fortunate opportunity to work with him for several years on New Year's Eve," he told the Hollywood Reporter after Clark's death in 2012.
By that point, Seacrest was powerful enough to bid for the "American Bandstand" host's prolific production company.
Not bad for the lawyer's son who once made mixtapes for his school bus drivers.
'Everything is connected'
Seacrest was born in 1974 and raised in the Atlanta suburbs. Even as a teenager, he was goal-oriented. In one oft-told story, he was embarrassed by his pudginess, so he cut his lunch intake from a pair of sandwiches to a bit of fruit.
And entertainment? First were the bus driver tapes. Then he impressed classmates by turning morning announcements into entertaining segments. Finally, when he was 16, came an internship with an Atlanta radio station.
"I remember thinking, 'Everything I do from this point on is a step,' " he told Details in 2007. "If I'm scrubbing the break room, I'm closer to the studio room. And if I'm in the studio room, I'm closer to the microphone. If I'm closer to the microphone ... I really got the psychology of it -- that everything is connected."
He dropped out of the University of Georgia after two semesters to pursue bigger dreams. He wouldn't be talked out of it, his mother, Connie, told The Wall Street Journal.
"I told (husband) Gary, 'You're a great attorney. Let me see you win this battle.' Ryan had all the answers," she recalled. "He was always older than his years."
Seacrest spent the late '90s trying to move up. Radio stardom came quickly enough: In 1994, not long after he arrived in Los Angeles, he started "Ryan Seacrest for the Ride Home," which was soon syndicated nationally. But his television career was a series of short-lived gigs, including ESPN's "Radical Outdoor Challenge" and the syndicated "Gladiators 2000."
The turning point came in 2001.
One weekend, he was deciding between an offer to host "Family Feud," the long-running game show, or a new summer talent show called "American Idol," where he'd initially interviewed as a judge.
The former was an established hit. But something about "Idol" spoke to him.
"They told me I had till Monday to decide," Seacrest told Details. " 'Family Feud' was the bigger opportunity. But for some reason -- I'm still not entirely sure why -- I ended up choosing 'American Idol.' "
Climbing up with the Kardashians
Seacrest, being Seacrest, didn't stop with "Idol." He was just the host; the show, spearheaded by 19 Entertainment, was essentially someone else's cash cow.
So, inspired by heroes such as Clark, he branched out. Red carpets. Reality shows. Product pitchman. More radio. More TV.
The Kardashians helped make it possible. Before "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" went on the air in 2007, Seacrest was amassing deals and credits -- including one as Clark's co-host on "Rockin' Eve" -- but hadn't overseen a breakout show.
Inspired by "The Osbournes," he had a colleague shoot a Kardashian family barbecue on Sunday afternoon. The colleague called immediately.
"(He said), 'They're so funny; they're so fun; there is so much love in this family, and they're so chaotic, they throw each other in the pool!' We watched it and rushed the tape to E! immediately, and that was the beginning," he recalled.
The show remains one of E!'s most popular and has spawned several spinoffs.
The Kardashian clan
Khloe Kardashian and boyfriend Tristan Thompson
were the subject of reports in April that Thompson had been spending time with other women during her pregnancy. Let's "katch" up with the rest of her famous family.
The most famous of the Kardashian clan is undoubtedly Kim Kardashian West, who has gained publicity for everything from "
breaking the Internet" to bleaching her hair blonde to ... well, pretty much everything she does gains publicity. At the least, she can usually be seen with her family on the E! series "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." The middle Kardashian daughter is married to rap star Kanye West and has a daughter, North, born in 2013. She gave birth to a son, Saint, in 2015 and in January 2018 daughter Chicago was born via surrogate.
Kourtney Kardashian is the oldest of the four Kardashian siblings. She works with her sisters in the fashion business. She and Scott Disick were together from 2006 to 2015 and have three children.
Khloé Kardashian is the youngest of the Kardashian daughters and along with Khloe has starred in some spinoffs of their family's famous reality show. She had been married to former NBA star Lamar Odom but filed for divorce from him for the second time in May 2016. She previously filed in 2013, but put the divorce on hold when he was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel. The pair settled their divorce in December 2016. A year later
she confirmed she was expecting her first child with her NBA player boyfriend Tristan Thompson.
Rob Kardashian has been on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" but has been uncomfortable in the spotlight his sisters love so much. He dated pop star Adrienne Bailon for a time and performed on season 13 of "Dancing With the Stars" but has generally kept a low profile (for a Kardashian, anyway). He was involved with model and personality Blac Chyna and their show "Rob & Chyna" followed the couple's tumultuous relationship and the arrival of their daughter, Dream. The couple split and in July 2017 Chyna was
granted a temporary restraining order after he posted personal info about her on social media.
Kylie Jenner, the youngest of the clan, has also made her mark with modeling and social media. In 2015, she made headlines with a relationship with rapper Tyga. In February 2018
she gave birth to her first child, a daughter she and boyfriend rapper Travis Scott named Stormi.
In March 2018, Kendall Jenner answered rumors that she is gay in
an interview with Vogue. Fans have watched the model grow up on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," and she has made the most of the opportunity, hosting awards shows, endorsing products and walking high fashion runways.
Kris Jenner, the matriarch of the family, was married to Los Angeles lawyer Robert Kardashian until 1991 and then married Olympian Bruce Jenner a month after the divorce. She's hosted a talk show, "Kris," and been a regular presence on "Keeping Up." She split from Bruce in September 2014; he later transitioned to Caitlyn Jenner.
Caitlyn Jenner shot to fame as the winner of the 1976 Olympic men's decathlon, becoming "the world's greatest athlete." An occasional actor and longtime broadcaster, he married Kris, his third wife, in 1991. The pair have two children together, Kendall and Kylie. In 2015, she announced that she was transgender.
Brandon Jenner, Bruce Jenner's son by his second wife, Linda Thompson, had a reality show even before the rest of the family: 2005's "The Princes of Malibu" with his brother, Brody. Brandon is now in a music duo with his wife, Leah Felder, the daughter of Eagles guitarist Don Felder.
Brody Jenner has practically grown up in front of the cameras. Before "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," he was in "The Princes of Malibu" with brother Brandon, "The Hills" on MTV and "Bromance," a "Hills" spinoff. He's the younger son of Bruce Jenner and Linda Thompson.
The family patriarch was Robert Kardashian, a Los Angeles attorney who first became famous to the rest of the country as one of O.J. Simpson's best friends, the man who hosted Simpson after the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Kardashian, who's the father of Kim, Khloe, Kourtney and Rob, married Kris in 1978 and divorced her 13 years later. Robert Kardashian died in 2003.
Hip-hop star Kanye West was taken into the family orbit after he started seeing Kim Kardashian in 2012. The couple had a daughter, North, the next year and married in May 2014.
Scott Disick had been with Kourtney Kardashian since 2006. The two have three children. Disick has struggled in the glare of the Kardashian spotlight, admitting to anger issues and getting into tiffs with other members of the family.
The couple eventually split amid rumors that he cheated.
Odom married Khloe in 2009, but despite getting a reality series of their own -- "Khloe & Lamar" -- the marriage struggled. Khloe filed for divorce in 2013. Odom, who won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award in 2011, was waived by the New York Knicks in 2014 after a 15-year professional career.
Which has made overseeing the empire even more important. To this day, Seacrest maintains a relentless schedule. (If Stern doesn't want to share "King of All Media," then perhaps the late James Brown may consider parting with "The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business.") He's up well before dawn. He doesn't do lunch meetings. He even has a clean email inbox.
"I'll usually see an email and respond as quickly as possible," he told GQ. "My inbox is pretty active, but I try and see them all within 30 minutes to an hour of receiving them."
Not everyone has been enamored with Seacrest's energy. In a 2004 New York Times Magazine profile, Allison Glock wrote that he had "taken the art of the Personality and refined it to the level of German engineering."
More pointed was former "Idol" judge Simon Cowell.
"Ryan has the appeal of a dog that has been rescued from the pound," he told the publication. "That is his secret. He's grateful. He's happy. Always, always. If he had a tail, he'd wag it."
That optimism has only helped Seacrest, TV executive Ted Harbert told Details.
"Ryan Seacrest wasn't the first person to think of doing a reality show with Denise Richards, but he was able to sign her," he said. "He wasn't the first person to think of doing a show with the Kardashians, but he was able to sign them. There have been a handful of people in television history who could do that. You put him in a room with somebody, and he can sign them."
Indeed, Seacrest doesn't seem to have a bad word for anyone. He's always upbeat, even when talking about his childhood girth. His own spectacle, the Kardashians, may be an easy target for many, but the closest he comes to a backhanded compliment is calling them "a machine of entertainment."
He's more likely to offer effusive praise for them.
"I think it's amazing. It's a phenomenon. They are literally like a first family in this country," he told GQ.
Seacrest is only 41. His own idols -- Clark, Larry King, Merv Griffin -- worked into their 80s. (King -- who recommended that Seacrest replace him on CNN's "Larry King Live" -- is still at it.) But though he may have more big business plans to come, all he wants to be is your friend -- "the world's friend," he told the Times Magazine.
Eleven years later, he expanded on that idea for GQ.
"I think the legacy that I hope to leave is that people think of me as their friend on the radio, their friend on TV, who made it look pretty easy and was a source or a conduit for escapism," he said.
"I don't do surgery, and it's not rocket science," he added. "My job is to get things started, get out of the way, and say good night."