'Late Night' nails a decisive win its first week

NEW YORK — Jimmy Fallon enjoyed a healthy win in the ratings his first week on the air.

NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" attracted an average 2.4 million viewers the week of March 2, against CBS' "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," which averaged 1.9 million viewers, according to final Nielsen figures released Thursday.

In their opening night clash, Fallon scored 2.9 million viewers against Ferguson's 1.9 million.

On that March 2 debut, Fallon also beat ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" during their overlapping half-hour by 100,000 viewers. "Jimmy Kimmel Live" begins 30 minutes earlier.

Fallon has taken over "Late Night" from longtime host Conan O'Brien.