American Idol bringing back Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan--but what about Ryan Seacrest?

TVLine

Seacrest's name was conspicuously absent from ABC's 1,320 word press release announcing the return of Perry, Richie and Bryan as judges for their third season, plus Bobby Bones as in-house mentor, as TVLine points out. Seacrest is in the middle of a long-term overall deal with ABC. "Though Perry, Bryan and Richie have served as Idol‘s judges since the show was revived on ABC, it was rumored that the Alphabet Net planned to cut costs ahead of the next cycle, largely due to a decline in ratings," says TVLine's Rebecca Iannucci. "Much of the potential belt-tightening was allegedly focused on the judges’ salaries (most notably Perry, who is said to be pocketing $20 million per season), but there’s no word on whether any changes were made." ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke said in the press release of the judges and Bones returning: American Idol is the original music competition series. It was the first of its kind to take everyday singers and catapult them into superstardom, launching the careers of so many amazing artists. We couldn’t be more excited for Katy, Luke, Lionel and Bobby to continue in their roles as American Idol searches for the next great music star, with more live episodes and exciting, new creative elements coming this season.” ALSO: Omitting Seacrest's name may be a sign ABC is ready to move on without him.

• UPDATE: ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke said Seacrest is in negotiations to return to Idol: "I do not believe he will be missing," she said. "We're in ongoing conversations with Ryan about returning, and I'm hopeful that he will."