Late Night's Jimmy Fallon will spend an evening in prime time when he hosts the Emmy Awards in August.Late Night's Jimmy Fallon will spend an evening in prime time when he hosts the Emmy Awards in August. (Diane Bondareff/Associated Press)Late-night television regular Jimmy Fallon will move up to prime time for one night this summer when he hosts the Emmy Awards.

The Late Night host and former Saturday Night Live cast member will emcee the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards telecast on Aug. 29, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and broadcaster NBC announced Tuesday.

Fallon, who has previously hosted the MTV Movie Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards, joked that the Emmy gig "has been a dream of mine ever since they told me I was doing it."

The 35-year-old actor and comedian has a tough act to follow: last year's host, actor Neil Patrick Harris, won wide acclaim for his efforts and that edition of the show honouring the best in U.S. television saw an increase in viewership.

Fallon succeeded Conan O'Brien as host of NBC's Late Night in early 2009, and his take on the talk show — including landing respected hip hop troupe the Roots as his house band, featuring SNL-like comedy sketches, and Fallon's regular Twitter updates and blog posts — has been popular with younger audiences.

Nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced on July 8.

With files from The Associated Press