With NBC’s primetime lineup tanking and Jay Leno set to retire from The Tonight Show in 2014, NBC execs should be scrambling in finding someone popular to position on TV. Jimmy Fallon is the chances-on favorite to take the Tonight Show reins, however the latest late night NBC programming rumors about who could take Fallon’s place might surprise some.

The Ny Post is now reporting that “shock jock” Howard Stern may well be taking Fallon’s Place on Late Night. The Post cites an unnamed source “who knows [Stern] well” as saying NBC executives have warmed as much as Stern, who’s currently a judge at the NBC show America’s Got Talent.

Also, Stern’s wife, Beth Ostrosky Stern, told the newspaper that she would support a move by her husband to late night TV.

Since the retirement of Johnny Carson in 1992, the politics surrounding late night hosting duties at NBC was fraught with scandal. David Letterman, the host of Late Night with David Letterman on the time, was omitted in favor of Jay Leno. When Jay Leno gave up The Tonight Show in 2009, Conan O’Brien briefly hosted the show before being ousted in favor of Leno taking back control of the show.

(Image via Howard Stern’s Twitter page)