According to the Nielsen Company, Senator Barack Obama’s $5 million ad had an estimated 33.5 million viewers - a bigger audience than Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.  Locally, an estimated 1.74 million watched the spot on the broadcast stations alone.

The 30-minute spot, aimed at making a last-ditch pitch to voters, was telecast on seven networks - CBS, Fox, NBC, Univision, BET, MSNBC and TV One. In 1992, Ross Perot, bought time on three networks the night before the election and drew 22.6 million viewers.

Though the price paid for the time on each network varied, but the three broadcast networks were in the $900,000 range. On the three broadcast networks, 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.

Commenting on the astounding viewership of the spot, one NBC executive suggested jokingly that during a season where television hits are hard to find, Obama might be invited back to fill the 8 p.m. Wednesday time slot on a regular basis!

In fact, the audience for Obama’s program far exceeded the expectations of television executives - and many political pundits who questioned whether Obama was engaging in overkill in buying a half hour on so many networks.

Leslie Moonves, the chairman of CBS said: “I was shocked by the number Obama was able to draw - it’s a stunning number!”