David Letterman signed off on Wednesday night, putting the finishing touch on a 33-year career in late-night — the last 22 of which he’s spent at CBS.
Capping off several weeks of ratings spikes and two nights of five-year highs, the telecast was obviously up. The star-filled goodbye averaged a 9.3 local rating, hitting its highest score since December 2005. (That telecast brought a visit from friend Oprah Winfrey, who hadn’t visited Letterman since 1989.)
Full ratings for the telecast will be available later on Thursday, but as it stands, the 11:30 p.m. Late Show outrated all primetime telecasts for the night.
One fellow benefiting a great deal from all of this is James Corden. The new Late Late Show host has been hitting series highs for his brief tenure, rising last night to a 2.5 overnight rating.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
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