On August 30th, 1993, the "Late Show with David Letterman" premiered on CBS. After being passed over for "The Tonight Show" in favor of comedian Jay Leno, David Letterman famously moved from NBC to CBS, moving the production of his show to the iconic Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City. This move marked the beginning of the "Late Night Wars", with Letterman initially dominating the ratings for the first two years of his CBS run. CBS offered Letterman a contract of $14 million per year to lure him in, and spent an additional $8 million to renovate the theater for production. The premiere episode of Letterman's talk show drew in 23 million viewers. After this initial broadcast, the show's nightly average eventually settled around 3-4 million, but its final episode on May 20th, 2015 drew in 13.76 million viewers. The "Late Show" won a total of 9 Primetime Emmy Awards, and Letterman himself eventualy surpassed Johnny Carson as the longest-running late-night talk show host in history, with over 33 years on his various program.
