New York, Sep 6 : Republican presidential candidate John McCain attracted a record 38.9 million television viewers to his acceptance speech last night, edging Democratic rival Barack Obama and his running mate, Sarah Palin.

The total exceeded the 38.4 million who watched Obama accept the Democratic nomination in Denver on August 28, Nielsen Media Research said today in a statement.

Some 38.93 million people watched McCain’s Thursday night speech at the Republican National Convention, Nielsen said. That''s a bit higher than the 38.37 million who saw Obama''s speech at the Democratic convention a week earlier.

Both figures are believed to be the No. 1 and No. 2 most-watched convention speeches of all time; neither counts PBS or C-Span, which could add another 3 million to the totals.

Palin drew 37.2 million on September 3 after three days of intense media coverage.

The last night of the Republican gathering in St. Paul, Minnesota, was seen in 28.3 million homes, breaking the record of the 27.7 million who watched Obama''s speech at the Democratic National Convention.

McCain''s ratings are the highest for a political convention since Nielsen began collecting data in 1960.

The figures dwarfed the 25.6 million who watched President George W. Bush''s acceptance speech in September 2004, the group added. (ANI)