Howard Stern said on his satellite radio show on Monday that Fox is considering him as a possible replacement for Simon Cowell when American Idol‘s tenth season begins in 2011. “There’s not a better job on the planet than judging that f—ing karaoke contest,” The Wrap quotes Stern as saying. He added, “They’d have to pay me a ton of dough because I already make a ton of dough.” The shock jock was responding to a New York Post report from last Friday suggesting that he is the leading candidate to replace Cowell on the show’s judging panel in 2011. Stern’s $500 million five-year contract with Sirius XM expires at the end of this year. Cowell announced last month he will not return to Idol next year, and will instead bring his X-Factor singing competition to Fox’s fall 2011 schedule.
Stern would not elaborate this morning on the status of his negotiations with Idol, saying, “I’m not going to comment about any discussions I might or might not have had.” Last week, a source close to the show discussed the Stern rumors with EW, saying “the search has just begun, nor are there any front-runners at this time.” Furthermore, “nobody’s going to be offered a job [as a permanent Idol judge] for a while,” the source added. “We’re doing a very thorough search.” A call to Stern’s rep was not returned.
