Jay Leno has officially announced his retirement from NBC’s “Tonight Show.”
As expected, “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon will succeed Leno in the spring of 2014 when “Tonight” moves back to New York, to 30 Rock — 42 years after Johnny Carson took the show to Burbank.
With Fallon, 38, NBC hopes to capture the younger viewers and compete with ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, who moved to an 11:35 timeslot in January.
“Congratulations, Jimmy. I hope you’re as lucky as me and hold on to the job until you’re the old guy,” Leno said in a statement. “If you need me, I’ll be at the garage.”
The announcement ends weeks of turmoil at NBC, which took heat for mishandling Leno’s reported departure after news broke that Fallon would replace him.
“We are purposefully making this change when Jay is #1, just as Jay replaced Johnny Carson when he was #1,” NBC CEO Steve Burke said in a statement. “His long reign as the highest-rated late-night host is a testament to his work ethic and dedication to his viewers and to NBC.”
Leno replaced Carson on “Tonight” in 1992, beating out David Letterman, who began hosting his “Late Show” on CBS a year later but still holds a grudge.
NBC ousted Leno once before, in 2010, when it replaced him with Conan O’Brien and gave Leno a prime-time show.
O’Brien’s ratings were bad, however, and Leno reclaimed “Tonight” after seven months. O’Brien ended up with a late-night show on TBS.
Fallon’s “Tonight Show” will be executive-produced by “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels.
“I’m really excited to host a show that starts today instead of tomorrow,” Fallon said in a statement.