By James Ling

Ryan Seacrest is a US broadcasting legend. The host of American Idol since 2002, he has executive produced over 50 shows, hosted multiple awards celebrations, and regularly appears across radio, TV, and film. But for many people his greatest achievement is miles away from the bright lights of the entertainment world, and more about how he has transformed lives through the nonprofit Ryan Seacrest Foundation.

The Ryan Seacrest Foundation (RSF) describes itself as an “organization dedicated to inspiring today’s youth through entertainment and education-focused initiatives,” but to the millions of people who it has inspired since its launch in 2010, it is much more than that.

RSF’s aim is to contribute positively to the healing process for children and their families during their stay in hospital. It does so through the creation of experiential broadcast media centers, known as Seacrest Studios, which are integrated into pediatric hospitals across the US. They are designed not only to give patients free access to explore radio, television, and new media, but to uplift the spirits of the entire hospital community.

In 2022 the RSF reached 2.2 million patients through its 14 studios. It produced 5,300 hours of live programming and in 2021 it hosted more than 150 in-person and virtual visits from some of North America’s biggest stars. With three new studio builds scheduled to open in 2023, the program is still growing.

Symetrix has been part of the journey since its early days and continues to support RSF’s work by donating signal processing and control equipment.

“Donations from manufacturers are absolutely key to ensure we are able to keep going and keep expanding,” said RSF Director of Engineering Brian Clark, who has been Ryan Seacrest’s engineer for the last 28 years.

“Each studio is a different space but we try to maintain the same styling and equipment where we can. As the kids get involved in the production, it’s important that the equipment is easy to use, so we work hard to keep the system streamlined.

“We try to keep things simple in the studio and we hide the bigger stuff in a rack room,” Brian continued. “We don’t operate in a broadcast environment; we are in a medical center and so the studio is a finite space and we need to make sure we are getting the most value out of it.

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