Larry King courted by Ryan Seacrest for new radio job

[HMG] – With his departure from CNN announced, then postponed, Larry King is still seeking employment. And Ryan Seacrest thinks he may have the answer.

Ryan currently hosts “American Top 40″ and “On-Air with Ryan Seacrest” on various stations run by the ‘Clear Channel’ media group. But his contract expires in November and it seems the 35-year old host has dreams of becoming a media mogul himself.

TMZ says Ryan has been talking to several big-money people in showbiz about launching a multi-media empire, including radio, TV and the Internet. And he and Larry have discussed relaunching Larry’s radio career as part of tese plans.

One of the people to whom Ryan’s been chatting is ex-Dreamworks animation boss, Jeffrey Katzenberg. The two shared a dinner last night and friends say Ryan’s media plans were their main topic.

Meanwhile, Larry’s on record as saying that when he finally quits CNN, Ryan would be his favorite replacement. And under his new deal with the station he’s free to pursue other work, as long as it’s not with one of CNN’s rivals – so radio’s okay.

And Larry knows radio — He began his career as a flunky in April 1957 on the Miami station ‘WMBM.’ Then on May 1st one of their DJ’s got sick and Larry was put on the air. He later added two afternoon newscasts and a sports show and was paid the princely salary of just $55 a week.

Do you think Ryan’s got the chops to be a media mogul? Let’s hear your views on this tale…