Simon Cowell joins ‘America’s Got Talent’ as a judge

Simon Cowell will be back at a U.S. reality competition judge’s table again next summer when he joins NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”

NBC announced Thursday that Cowell will replace Howard Stern on the program when it begins its 11th season in 2016. Stern announced at the end of last season that he was not returning.

Cowell is the creator of the “Got Talent” format, which airs in dozens of versions in territories around the world. It launched on NBC in 2006 with David Hasselhoff, Brandy Norwood and Piers Morgan as judges.

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“Simon knows this format better than anyone and he’s been producing the show with us since the beginning, so we’re thrilled to have him to step in front of the camera and take his rightful place at the head of the judges’ panel,” said Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, in a statement. “We welcome him to the on-screen NBC family.”

In an interview on NBC’s “Today,” Cowell said it was the network’s idea for him to join the program.

Cowell became the archetype for the vicious reality show judge when U.S. viewers first saw him on Fox’s “American Idol” in 2002. He was on the show for nine years during the show’s historic run as the most watched program in prime time.

Cowell left “Idol” after its 2010 season so he could appear on the U.S. version of “The X Factor,” a talent competition he created and made successful around the world. Fox canceled “The X Factor” after three seasons, but Cowell publicly and privately lobbied the network to bring it back.