When Johnny Carson retired in 1992 Jay Leno became the new permanent host of The Tonight Show after a long period of debate and negotiations with Leno and David Letterman (who had been considered by many to be Carson's heir apparent). Letterman signed a deal with CBS, sparking an ongoing late-night rivalry between the two talk-show hosts. Although Letterman's Late Show led in the ratings at the start, The Tonight Show took over the lead in 1995 and has generally had higher ratings ever since.