http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/31/us/politics/31rate.html
The New York Times
October 31, 2008
Infomercial for Obama Is Big Success in Ratings
By BILL CARTER
Television networks needed a hit, and Barack Obama gave them one.
An infomercial on behalf of Mr. Obama was a smashing ratings success on
Wednesday night, proving to be more popular than even the final game of
the World Series -- and last season's finale of "American Idol." The
audience for Mr. Obama's program far exceeded the expectations of
television executives -- and many political pundits who questioned
whether Mr. Obama was engaging in overkill in buying a half hour on so
many networks.
Mr. Obama's 30-minute commercial, which played on seven networks,
broadcast and cable, was seen by 33.55 million viewers, according to
figures released by Nielsen Media Research. On the three broadcast
networks that carried the special, the audience totaled more than 25
million, easily surpassing the number for the last World Series game on
Fox, which averaged 19.8 million viewers. The special was also
available on Univision, and three cable networks, MSNBC, BET and TV
One.
"I was shocked by the number Obama was able to draw," said Leslie
Moonves, the chairman of CBS. "It's just a stunning number."
On CBS, the infomercial was seen by about 8.6 million viewers, a number
that topped the show CBS usually runs on Wednesday night at 8, "Old
Christine," which averages about 7.2 million.
On NBC, the disparity was even greater. Its regular show there, "Knight
Rider," has been averaging just under 7 million viewers. Mr. Obama
pulled in 9.8 million for his half-hour special.
MSNBC, where the Obama campaign bought the half hour at the last minute
because ABC decided to stick with its hourlong show, "Pushing Daisies,"
improved by more than 50 percent over usual audience totals.
MSNBC drew 3.5 million viewers with the Obama program; its average for
that half hour (which is when it runs its most popular show, "Countdown
with Keith Olbermann") is 2.1 million.
As for ABC's decision not to allow Mr. Obama to buy the half-hour: that
did not turn out well. "Pushing Daisies" attracted only 6.7 million
viewers, which means it was beaten by each of the broadcast networks
carrying Mr. Obama.
BET and TV One also topped their usual audiences. BET had 714,000
viewers; its average for Wednesday at 8 is 473,000. TV One had 307,000
viewers, better than its average of 198,000.
The only networks with slightly lower totals than average were Fox,
which has an especially strong show on Wednesdays at 8, "Bones," and
Univision, the Spanish-language network, which offers telenovelas.
The viewer total for Mr. Obama's program also dwarfed the number of
people who tuned in to see the last significant paid political program
in a presidential election, Ross Perot's purchase on three networks on
Nov. 4, 1996. The total audience for that half-hour was 22.7 million.
During a season where television hits are hard to find, one NBC
executive suggested jokingly Wednesday that Mr. Obama might be invited
back to fill the 8 p.m. Wednesday time slot on a regular basis.