Last month we reported that this season of American Idol would be the last for judge Simon Cowell and now we have word on who the producers want to replace him. The New York Post's Page Six column is reporting that radio shock-jock Howard Stern is the top candidate to replace Cowell on American Idol. Here's an excerpt from the article.

They approached the King of All Media after he repeatedly mentioned on-air that his exclusive Sirius XM Radio deal expires next January and he was open to other offers. Cowell was paid $50 million a year.

While one of the site's sources for the story claim that the Fox higher-ups think he'd be great for the show, another source is claiming that, despite his on-air proclamations, Stern isn't quite ready to leave radio yet.

"Despite what he's been saying on-air, Howard isn't ready to leave radio and would like to stay on at Sirius," the source said. "We believe this is a ploy to make Sirius pay up and keep him on his huge contract. But if Sirius can't pay him the money he wants, he may negotiate to film 'Idol' on the side."

CLICK HERE for the site's full story.