Craig Ferguson Takes The Lead In Late Late Night Ratings

He'll take the 'win' The week ending Feb. 8 was a big one for Craig Ferguson, who beat Conan O'Brien in head-to-head competition - sort of - for the first time since he took over "Late Late Show" in January 2005. Fergu son's "win," however, comes with a caveat.

Ferguson averaged 1.85 mil lion viewers to O'Brien's 1.82 million viewers - but his show which followed CBS' Super Tuesday coverage (Feb. 5) wasn't counted as a matchup with "Late Night" because it aired under a dif ferent title (confusing, I know). So Ferguson's "win" actually reflects the two shows competing head-to- head four of that week's five nights. Still, terrific numbers for Ferguson.