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Dick Clark and Ryan Secrest

H

heydaybegone

Well, it's been a day now. The passing of Dick Clark affects us all. May he rest with all the stars he introduced, made, and mentored...and the many that will join him in the future. And New Year's Eve, well.....

We will miss you Dick Clark.

Now...will we see the answer as to whether Ryan Secrest will be his successor, as anticipated? That is the topic in question.

My opinion is that Ryan will do the talent work...but Dick had Dick Clark Productions set up in a very different way.
Opinions?

HDBG
 
I believe that Ryan will be the front man, but I'm pretty sure that Dick's kids are deeply involved in the business end of Dick Clark Productions. We'll see what happens after the current contracts run out.
 
I was surprised to read this morning that Dick Clark Productions is actually owned by Daniel Snyder, internet entrepreneur and owner of the Washington Redskins along with some DC area radio stations. TRI reports that Snyder bought the company from Dick Clark for 175 million dollars in 2007.

So, will Clark's kids have any say? Maybe Seacrest, who's become a TV production mogul himself, will take on a bigger role. Or, if Snyder wanted to sell, Ryan could buy the whole company. I'm sure he probably has the bucks by now.
 
SirRox I think you're right that Dick Clark's kids are deeply involved in Dick Clark Productions.

I envision Seacrest building his own empire - with its own identity - apart from DCP.

If he were to run DCP, I would think Ryan would be part leader but mostly a custodian of the Dick Clark brand...that is preserve and build upon Clark's legacy...otherwise he'll generate controversy trying anything other than what's perceived to be "the way Dick would have done it". I think Seacrest risks tarnishing his own brand doing any more for DCP than hosting and related duties on programs such as "New Year's Rockin' Eve".

So I think it's better for Seacrest to build his own brand...and ultimately he'll honor Clark's legacy far better that way.

In case you haven't seen this elsewhere...here's a Rolling Stone piece dated 8/16/73...Ben Fong-Torres interview. VERY frank, he gets into his role in the payola scandal of 1959 and why Alan Freed got busted while Clark was exonerated, yet doing pretty much the same things which, lest we forget, were legal and acceptable in those days...payola has its roots in Vaudeville.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/dick-clark-20-years-of-clearasil-rock-20120418
 
Two things: The current incarnation of DCP is different from what it was under Dick. He sold it to another company after his stroke. That company sold it to Snyder. They sold Dick's famous tudor style office building in Burbank some time ago, and the company is now housed in a rather non-descript office building in LA. Yes, Dick's son RAC still works for the company. RAC's name is short for Richard A. Clark. As recently as a few weeks ago, RAC still refered to his father as "Dick." There was only one in the family. But RAC has never been the businessman of the company. The company has a President, who is not in the family.

Second, Dick himself was not opposed to doing outside work. His hosting of the $25,000 Pyramid was for an outside production company. DCP does not own the copyright or the masters. I believe Sony now owns them. Bandstand was the foundation of Dick's company. From what I can see, he bought the name before he took the show to ABC network. Similar story to Don Cornelius, who bought Soul Train as a local show, and took it national. Dick would begin relationships with existing shows, like the ACM Awards or Golden Globe Awards as a production company, and after a few years, acquire more control in the show. He created the American Music Awards, so he owns that one outright. Same with Rockin' Eve.

For Ryan, he's smart enough to know that a show needs distribution. His goal is to build relationships with distributors like NBC Universal (E!) or Clear Channel to get his work out. His own company is creating and launching new shows, which he'll own, like the Bloopers franchise that DCP had. But he'll also do work for other companies because they own the show brand, and associating with them enlarges the name brand. DCP owns the Rockin' New Year's Eve show. His relationship with that show is built into the contract. Ryan got involved after Dick's stroke, so I'm sure contingencies were built into the contract. Ryan might be able to do with the New Year's show what Dick did with the awards shows, and host them as a contractor and then buy the property outright. It's probably all in the contract.
 
chas108 said:
In case you haven't seen this elsewhere...here's a Rolling Stone piece dated 8/16/73...Ben Fong-Torres interview. VERY frank, he gets into his role in the payola scandal of 1959 and why Alan Freed got busted while Clark was exonerated, yet doing pretty much the same things which, lest we forget, were legal and acceptable in those days...payola has its roots in Vaudeville.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/dick-clark-20-years-of-clearasil-rock-20120418
Click to expand...

Thanks, Chaz. Clark makes reference to George "Hound Dog" Lorenz as one of the pioneers in the business in the nearly 40 year old Rolling Stone story.
 
Excellent observations, A.

JPB, I noticed that too. No mention however of Pittsburgh's Alan Freed/George Lorenz, Porky Chedwick (who's still alive at 93!). Interesting mention of WOV/NYC, one of the earliest to utilize jocks who spoke in jive, going all the way back to the late 30's.
 
I did know that Dick Clark Productions was sold a few years but didn't know they moved from Olive Ave location. Dick continued to front the business up to his death. His wife, Kari, was (is) very active in the family business so don't count her out. She's very sharp.
 
therealjm12 said:
I did know that Dick Clark Productions was sold a few years but didn't know they moved from Olive Ave location.
Click to expand...

2900 Olympic Blvd...very nice, but not as historic. The old place was right across the street from NBC in "beautiful downtown Burbank."
 
TheBigA said:
Two things: The current incarnation of DCP is different from what it was under Dick. He sold it to another company after his stroke. That company sold it to Snyder. They sold Dick's famous tudor style office building in Burbank some time ago, and the company is now housed in a rather non-descript office building in LA. Yes, Dick's son RAC still works for the company. RAC's name is short for Richard A. Clark. As recently as a few weeks ago, RAC still refered to his father as "Dick." There was only one in the family. But RAC has never been the businessman of the company. The company has a President, who is not in the family.

Second, Dick himself was not opposed to doing outside work. His hosting of the $25,000 Pyramid was for an outside production company. DCP does not own the copyright or the masters. I believe Sony now owns them. Bandstand was the foundation of Dick's company. From what I can see, he bought the name before he took the show to ABC network. Similar story to Don Cornelius, who bought Soul Train as a local show, and took it national. Dick would begin relationships with existing shows, like the ACM Awards or Golden Globe Awards as a production company, and after a few years, acquire more control in the show. He created the American Music Awards, so he owns that one outright. Same with Rockin' Eve.

For Ryan, he's smart enough to know that a show needs distribution. His goal is to build relationships with distributors like NBC Universal (E!) or Clear Channel to get his work out. His own company is creating and launching new shows, which he'll own, like the Bloopers franchise that DCP had. But he'll also do work for other companies because they own the show brand, and associating with them enlarges the name brand. DCP owns the Rockin' New Year's Eve show. His relationship with that show is built into the contract. Ryan got involved after Dick's stroke, so I'm sure contingencies were built into the contract. Ryan might be able to do with the New Year's show what Dick did with the awards shows, and host them as a contractor and then buy the property outright. It's probably all in the contract.
Click to expand...

No offense, but you know entirely too much about Dick Clark et al.

And to whomever said that Ryan likely has the money to buy DCP outright: Please don't ever say that again in public.
 
jas2525 said:
No offense, but you know entirely too much about Dick Clark et al.

And to whomever said that Ryan likely has the money to buy DCP outright: Please don't ever say that again in public.
Click to expand...

Respectfully, I don't see a problem here. And if you're implying that the old man himself was irrelevant in AD2012, I think that was his brilliant final act: to set up his businesses to run just fine after he's gone...so by the time he'd suffered his stroke, it was ultimately irrelevant to the operations of those businesses. That's my perception anyway.

It's also telling that Clark saw himself in Ryan Seacrest and shared his secrets for success with him, several years ago.

He was known from multiple sources as a nice guy, and it's good to see a nice guy finish well.

We can romanticize music all we want...but the bottom line is this, like it or not:

IT HAS TO BE ABLE TO BE MONETIZED.

Dick Clark did that better than anyone. Above all else he was a good businessman and there's a lot that can be gleaned from his example.
 
chas108 said:
jas2525 said:
No offense, but you know entirely too much about Dick Clark et al.

And to whomever said that Ryan likely has the money to buy DCP outright: Please don't ever say that again in public.
Click to expand...

Respectfully, I don't see a problem here. And if you're implying that the old man himself was irrelevant in AD2012, I think that was his brilliant final act: to set up his businesses to run just fine after he's gone...so by the time he'd suffered his stroke, it was ultimately irrelevant to the operations of those businesses. That's my perception anyway.

It's also telling that Clark saw himself in Ryan Seacrest and shared his secrets for success with him, several years ago.

He was known from multiple sources as a nice guy, and it's good to see a nice guy finish well.

We can romanticize music all we want...but the bottom line is this, like it or not:

IT HAS TO BE ABLE TO BE MONETIZED.

Dick Clark did that better than anyone. Above all else he was a good businessman and there's a lot that can be gleaned from his example.
Click to expand...

That's all well and good....except for the fact that Ryan is the antichrist.
 
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