Nielsen: 33.5 Million Watched Obama

Barack Obama’s 30-minute infomercial drew a total of 33.5 million viewers last night, National TV ratings service Nielsen has estimated.

That total approaches the 38 million viewers who watched Obama’s nomination acceptance speech at Denver’s Invesco Field August 28.

Obama’s special was simulcast on CBS, Fox, NBC, Univision, BET, MSNBC, and TV One last night between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Eastern. Nielsen’s estimate takes viewership from all seven networks into account.

The only network not to air the special was ABC.

The 33.5-million total means more people watched Obama’s special than both the Academy Awards and the final episode of American Idol’s seventh season, though each of those events were broadcast on only one network. The ad drew just over half the viewers attracted by the first presidential debate, which was watched by 63.2 million people nationwide according to Nielsen.