Howard Stern Claims: 'I'm Taking Over THE TONIGHT SHOW'

Amid recent reports that Jimmy Fallon is poised to take over the desk of NBC's long-running late night talk show THE TONIGHT SHOW, shock jock Howard Stern appears to have plans of his own.

On his Sirius XM radio show this morning, the 'America's Got Talent' host explained how he's going to "take over The Tonight Show." Stern made the comment during a trashing of Today Show host Matt Lauer and his handling of Ann Curry's departure last year. Stern went on to reveal that NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt told him he's "got to take over the show."

To listen to Stern's comments on this morning's show, click here!

An inside source has denied the comments to Entertainment Weekly, saying "no such talks are happening."

Recently, two "high-level industry sources" told The Hollywood Reporter that the peacock network will be making an official announcement in May that the 2013-14 television season will be the last for Leno. According to the report, Jimmy Fallon will take over as host of THE TONIGHT SHOW in the 11:35 p.m. slot beginning with "a soft launch during the summer of 2014 before a formal fall kickoff."

Though Leno remains competitve in the ratings, Jimmy Kimmel has been beating him in the all-important 18-49 demographic. "Kimmel has done extremely well," says a network source, adding, "Jay wins overall, but on any given night, it's neck-and-neck in 18-49. I understand where they might have fear and also feel that they own the solution [in Fallon.]"

Stern helped to transform American radio and put Syndicated satellite radio on the map on SiriusXM. As the outspoken, unedited and headline-grabbing host of "The Howard Stern Show" radio program, Stern was nationally Syndicated from 1986 to 2005 and became a pop-culture icon with a massive loyal fan base. Since 1987, he has hosted numerous television shows, record-breaking Pay-Per-View events and home video releases. He also embarked on a five-month political campaign for governor of New York in 1994.

His two books, "Private Parts" (1993) and "Miss America" (1995), spent 20 and 16 weeks, respectively, on The New York Times bestseller list. The first book became a national sensation and was adapted into the feature film "Private Parts" (1997), a biographical comedy film that starrEd Stern and his radio show staff -- and was a box-office success. Additionally, Stern performed on the film's soundtrack which topped the Billboard 200 charT. Stern currently broadcasts his show "Howard 100" on the SiriusXM satellite radio station.

Photo by RD / Rob Kim / Retna Digital

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