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

The New York Post is now reporting that “shock jock” Howard Stern could be taking Fallon’s Place on Late Night. The Post cites an unnamed source “who knows [Stern] well” as saying NBC executives have warmed up to Stern, who is currently a judge on 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 has been fraught with scandal. David Letterman, the host of Late Night with David Letterman at the time, was passed over 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)