Entertainment

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Jay Leno, host of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," on the set in Burbank, Calif. (AP Photo/NBC, Paul Drinkwater)

As Jay Leno makes jokes about ratings-challenged NBC in his "Tonight" monologues, speculation is swirling the network is taking steps to replace the host with Jimmy Fallon next year and move the talk show from California to New York.

NBC confirmed Wednesday it's creating a new studio for Fallon in New York, where he hosts "Late Night." But the network did not comment on a report that the studio may become home to a transplanted, Fallon-hosted "Tonight."

The New York Times reported the plan Wednesday, citing unidentified network executives. The Hollywood Reporter had a March 1 report about a Fallon-Leno switch, which the network denied.

Looming over NBC is its messy, failed effort to replace Leno with Conan O'Brien, which ended in 2010 with Leno regaining "Tonight" and NBC losing O'Brien, who got a $45 million exit deal, to TBS.

Leno's current "Tonight" contract expires in September of 2014.

That occurred under a different regime, before NBCUniversal was taken over by Comcast Corp., which has a reputation for discipline. While NBC dithered and backtracked on its "Tonight" succession plan involving O'Brien, Comcast is likely to be more decisive.

The 38-year-old Fallon contacted Leno in an effort to help smooth the potential switch, according to a Hollywood Reporter story Wednesday.