Carson Tops Sajak In Talk-Show Battle

Johnny Carson’s lock on late-night talk-show viewers remained firm in the second week of competition with “The Pat Sajak Show,” ratings from the A.C. Nielsen Co. showed Thursday.

Thanks to a large tune-in for his Jan. 9 premiere on CBS, Sajak had managed to beat NBC’s “The Tonight Show” in the ratings averages during his first week on the air. But ratings for the second week revealed that the durable Carson had quickly recaptured his leadership position.

For Jan. 16-20, the 60-minute “Tonight Show” was seen in an average of about 5 million homes each night, compared to about 4.2 million for “The Pat Sajak Show” during the same hour.

An NBC spokesman said Carson’s ratings against Sajak were about the same as they had been prior to the latter’s arrival on the late-night scene, meaning that his viewers are remaining loyal and Sajak’s have come at the expense of other competitors.