American Idol’s Ryan Seacrest is currently negotiating his contract, which could come with a pay hike that promotes him to one of the highest-paid hosting gigs in TV. Simon Cowell was the first to ink a deal for the ninth season of the show, with remaining regular cast members still in talks with FOX, Fremantle and 19 Entertainment.

The three companies jointly produce Idol (this helps explain why Idol has three times more promotion and product placement per episode than some shows see in an entire season), and Seacrest is getting further into the fold all the time. Reportedly, the reality TV mogul is working on a new series with 19 Entertainment and American Idol creator Simon Fuller. This could be the Lindsay Lohan project which has been Twittered about recently…or, it could be any one of the other umpteen TV gigs Seacrest has in the works. 

Seacrest earned a little under $5 million for the eighth season of Idol (while acerbic host Simon Cowell raked in a whopping $34 million - his raise will take him to over $100 mill in Season 9). Meanwhile, Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and newlywed Kara DioGuardi are also discussing their deals…erm, their future with the show. All three judges have said they’d be happy to continue with the series.

Idol 9 is currently auditioning contestants in cities across America.