CBS announced today that it reached agreements with late night hosts David Letterman and Craig Ferguson to extend their contracts to 2014. This marks a special occasion for Letterman, who will now surpass Johnny Carson as the longest running host in late night tv history.
Both "The Late Show" and Ferguson's "The Late Late Show" have been produced under Letterman's Worldwide Pants Inc. since his first contract with CBS in 1993. As part of the contract renewal, CBS will now co-produce "The Late Late Show" and move production to a larger stage at CBS Television City in Los Angeles.
"David Letterman is a late night legend with an iconic show and Craig Ferguson continues to evolve the genre in exciting and innovative ways,” said CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler in a press release.
"The Late Late Show" won a Peabody Award in 2009 and Ferguson an Emmy Award nomination in 2006. Since Letterman's move to CBS, "The Late Show" has earned nine Emmy Awards and over 70 Emmy nominations.
This season marks Letterman's 30th year in late night since his start on NBC in 1982. It is currently averaging 3.3 million viewers and a 0.9 rating with the 18 to 49 demographic, neck-and-neck with Jay Leno's "Tonight Show."
Letterman's feud with NBC rival Leno may have mellowed as he's gotten older. Earlier this year he went on record saying that he's ready to end the longtime feud which started over which host would inherit "The Tonight Show" after Johnny Carson left in the early 90s.
"The Late Show" airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT, followed by "The Late Late Show" at 12:37 ET/PT on CBS.