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From the Home Office in Wahoo, Nebraska.
On June 1, 2009, Conan O’Brien (who had succeeded Letterman as host of Late Night in 1993) took over as host of The Tonight Show – an event Letterman referenced in his own show’s Top Ten List on that night – and Letterman’s “feud” with Leno came to a close. In 2008 Letterman told Rolling Stone that he would welcome Leno on his show once Leno’s tenure ended. Letterman said on competing with O’Brien, “I still find it hard to believe that Jay won’t be there.” The interview was held prior to Leno announcing his return to NBC for The Jay Leno Show.
In the second week after Letterman and O’Brien began their opposing broadcasts, viewer ratings for Tonight began to slip and Late Show was poised to beat Tonight for the first time in over ten years, a fact pointed out by Letterman’s guests on air (Howard Stern and Julia Roberts). Letterman quickly tried to change subject in the interviews and tried to avert a new rivalry. In fact, the June 9, 2009 episode of Late Show featuring Roberts rated better than Tonight with a 3.4 household rating nationally to O’Brien’s 2.9.



