Obama’s ad draws bigger viewership than average Wednesday night

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If Sen. Barack Obama were a television executive, he’d have a hit on his hands.

More than 33 million people watched the Democratic presidential nominee’s paid political ad Wednesday night on seven networks, delivering a bigger television audience for that time period than the usual viewership so far this season.

On an average Wednesday night, the same networks get an audience of 30.3 million people between 8 and 8:30 p.m., according to Nielsen Media Research.

The commercial, which ran nationally on CBS, Fox, NBC, Univision, BET, MSNBC and TV One, drew an audience that was more than half the size as the one that tuned into the final debate between Obama and Sen. John McCain on Oct. 15. That forum attracted 56.5 million viewers.

The infomercial was especially popular among African American viewers, attracting 15.2% of that demographic. Overall, 11.6% of television viewers watched the ad.

Obama’s commercial fared better than the series of 15 paid telecasts presidential candidate Ross Perot aired in 1992. An average of 11.6 million viewers watched those, just about 5% of the national audience. Perot’s final simulcast on election day that year drew 26 million viewers, or about 17% of all households.

-- Matea Gold