By DPA,
Los Angeles : Barack Obama’s 30 minute infomercial was watched by some 30 million viewers Wednesday night and beat the normal ratings of the networks on which it was screened, according to preliminary ratings released Thursday by Nielsen.
The viewing figures showed that for the six networks that aired the programme simultaneously, the spot had a household rating of 21.7 percent, meaning that 21.7 percent of all households watching television were tuned to the spot. The total of network viewers was 26.3 million viewers, with millions more watching on cable channels which also aired the ad.
The only previous time that a presidential candidate has chosen to buy a half hour of TV time was in 1992 when billionaire Ross Perot ran as an independent candidate. His ad drew 16.8 million viewers.