DAVID Letterman hasn’t said what he’ll do when his current deal with CBS ends in 2010.
But if Letterman decides to step down, Jon Stewart should get the show, says Craig Ferguson, the late-night host who follows Dave.
“I think Dave should stay. I think he ain’t done,” Ferguson told Broadcasting & Cable, the TV trade magazine over the weekend.
“But if Dave is finished, I think Jon has earned the job.”
The fact that Ferguson is picking Stewart, host of cable’s “The Daily Show,” is significant in two ways.
First, Ferguson works for Letterman’s Worldwide Pants company, which produces both late-night shows for CBS.
While Ferguson cannot be portrayed as a spokesman for Letterman, as an insider, this could be the first indication of whom Dave would like to see as his successor.
Also, it may be the first time in recent memory that a late, late night host has not nominated himself for the 11:30 seat.
Conan O’Brien is replacing Jay Leno next year and Letterman left NBC in 1993 because the network passed him over for Johnny Carson’s job hosting “The Tonight Show.”
Stewart’s deal with Comedy Central is up in 2010 and – as of now – Leno is a free agent after next year.
“It’s not been my lifelong ambition to host ‘The Tonight Show’ or something like it,” Ferguson says. “Jimmy [Kimmel] and Conan, that’s what they want and have always wanted.”