In a fitting conclusion to a presidential campaign that ignited intense public interest in political debates to primary nights, conventions and even prime time infomericals, President-elect Barack Obama's historic win on Tuesday night saw 71-million television viewers riveted to their TV screens.

According to Nielsen Media Research, compared to 61.6-million people who tuned in for the 2,000 election results, this year's election had nearly a quarter of all television viewers in the US, watching the results come in over 14-networks.

However, the three anchors from prime time ABC i. e. Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos, who at 13.13-million, captured the most viewers of any broadcast or cable channel. Its' largest presidential election night audience since 1996, comes at a time when ABC's Gibson and NBC's Brian Williams run for the top-rated evening news anchor position.

Crediting its' win to 'make it about the story, not about us', David Westin, ABC's News President notes ABC did away with holograms and virtual graphics, using technology simply in the service of substance. Whether, ABC's victory pays rich dividend for its flagship evening broadcast - World News, remains to be seen.

Shattering records, CNN drew the second largest audience during prime time, showcasing some of the most advanced technology of the night, with 98% more tuned in than during its' 2004 election coverage, making this its biggest viewership in the network's 28-year history.

In prime time, the cable channel beat NBC, taking third place with 12.02 million viewers, while Fox News followed with 9.04 million viewers.

Katie Couric, CBS anchor's election night special lagged behind other competitors, pulling in only 7.83 viewers, despite positive buzz about her political interviews, followed by MSNBC with 5.89 million viewers and 4.1 million for Spanish-language Univision.