Palin Speech Scores Massive TV Audience
Lacey Rose, 09.04.08, 3:55 PM ET
Sarah Palin, hockey mom, Alaska governor and vice presidential nominee, can add one more thing to her resume: prime-time television star.
Curiosity running high, Palin grabbed a massive 37.2 million television viewers with her 37-minute speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, according to Nielsen Media Research, just 1.3 million short of the record-setting 38.5 million Obama lured to the tube at the Democratic National Convention a week ago.
For those keeping track, that's 55% more than the third night of the Democratic National Convention when her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden, and President Bill Clinton addressed the country.
Her speech attracted more viewers than General Electric-owned (nyse: GE - news - people ) NBC's Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Beijing, the heavily-hyped finale of News Corp.-owned (nyse: NWS - news - people ) Fox's American Idol and this year's Academy Award telecast on Walt Disney-owned (nyse: DIS - news - people ) ABC.
Palin's big night came after a sluggish start for the Republican party. Hurricane Gustav robbed the political circus of its initial momentum, forcing party organizers to scale back on all but the necessities earlier in the week. They have played catch-up ever since.
Only 21.5 million viewers tuned in to see President George W. Bush and Sen. Joe Lieberman endorse Republican nominee John McCain Tuesday night, down 17% from the second night of the DNC, when Obama's rival-turned-supporter Hillary Clinton took the stage. Can McCain top any of this? Stay tuned. |
