• Media Life, Friday, April 14, 2006 11:02 AM

It's still several years before Conan O'Brien steps onto the stage as host of NBC's “Tonight Show,” but by the time he gets there it's possible he may have lost some of his steam as the undisputed king of nether-hours television.  While he still dominates the daypart as host of “Late Night,” his rival at CBS' “Late Late Show” has made significant gains over the past year.  Craig Ferguson's talker is up 1.7 percent in the last year, to a total of 1.94 million viewers.  O'Brien's ratings have been flat over the same period, holding at 2.5 million.  “That puts the Ferguson show closer to ‘Late Night’ in households, viewers and adults 25-54 than it's been in more than a decade, according to CBS. And that's been through a slew of hosts before landing Ferguson: Tom Snyder, Craig Kilborn" and others, according to Media Life's Abigail Azote.  "For certain, ‘Late Late Show’... is not likely to overtake ‘Late Night’ any time soon, but its performance thus far suggests Ferguson is finding his own audience, which is key, rather than serving as a button-jump for the dull interludes on ‘Late Night.’"

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