With Simon Cowell officially set to leave American Idol at the end of this season, producers are looking to replace him with someone worthwhile, someone like Howard Stern – the self-professed "King of All Media."

According to an insider, producers of American Idol say Stern is their first choice to replace Cowell. They approached Howard after he repeatedly mentioned on-air that his exclusive contract with Sirius XM Radio expires next January and that he was open to potential offers.

Cowell was paid $50 million a year. A source connected to American Idol said "It's one of the few shows that could compete with Stern's $100 million-a-year Sirius contract, and 'Idol' bosses think he'd be even nastier than Simon. They know he would be great TV and would clash with the other judges such as Ellen DeGeneres and the contestants. 'Idol' will do what it takes to sign him."

However, according to a different source, Howard Stern isn`t quite ready to make the leap: "Despite what he's been saying on-air, Howard isn't ready to leave radio and would like to stay on at Sirius. 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."

Stern, who exchanged wedding rings with model Beth Ostrosky in 2008, is also not sure he would commit to a show that would require him to travel across the U.S. and spend a large part of the year in LA.

He recently said: "I was approached by a major TV network to take over a TV show and leave here and do that next year -- and I did turn it down . . . I'm not even sure if I want to be working. I'm waiting to see what happens."