Via the AP: Obama’s speech seen by 38 million-plus viewers.

For some perspective:

More people watched Obama speak from a packed stadium in Denver on Thursday than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final “American Idol” or the Academy Awards this year, Nielsen Media Research said Friday. (Four playoff football games, including the Super Bowl between the Giants and Patriots, were seen by more than 40 million people.)

His TV audience nearly doubled the amount of people who watched John Kerry accept the Democratic nomination to run against President Bush four years ago.

Very impressive and I think it bespeaks of a high level of interest in this year’s campaign and in Obama specifically. At a minimum, the Obama campaign has to be thrilled that they were able to get their message out to that many potential voters. And the thought occurs that if this is what “celebrity” will do a politician, I am thinking that McCain would like to have some of that next Thursday.

3 Responses to “Amazing Numbers for Obama Speech”

1. Boyd Says:
   August 29th, 2025 at 11:31 pm

   I watched Obama’s speech last night, but it certainly wasn’t because I support him. The Obama campaign got their message out to me, but I don’t think they would consider that to be a net positive.

2. Dr. Steven Taylor Says:
   August 30th, 2025 at 10:14 am

   Of course, any given nomination acceptance speech will be viewed by supporters, opponents and those in between. The bottom line is more viewers is better, as it increases the odds that someone changed their mind or was otherwise influenced. Of course, I am hardly suggesting that viewership equals votes/support.

3. MSS Says:
   August 31st, 2025 at 3:29 pm

   If the country-club/equestrian set who run the homeowners association where I live (I’m just an interloper among them) would reschedule a board meeting in order to allow people to watch Obama’s speech, something amazing is going on, indeed.