McCain Attracts Record TV Audience, Tops Obama, Palin

[Psephos]

Source: Bloomberg

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain attracted a record 38.9 million television viewers to his acceptance speech last night, surpassing Democratic rival Barack Obama and McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin.

The total exceeded the 38.4 million who watched Obama accept the Democratic nomination in Denver on Aug. 28, Nielsen Media Research said today in a statement. Palin drew 37.2 million on Sept. 3 after three days of intense media coverage.

The last night of the Republican gathering in St. Paul, Minnesota, was seen in 28.3 million homes, breaking the record of the 27.7 million who watched Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention. McCain's ratings are the highest for a political convention since Nielsen began collecting data in 1960.

``This is likely to be a high turnout election,'' said Darrell West, a vice president of the Brookings Institution, a non-partisan policy research group in Washington. ``There were record turnouts in all of the caucus and primary states, we have had a record number of contributors and now we have a record number of television viewers.'

<snip>

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aq2VGWWcGVpc&refer=home

[Doctor Cynic]

1. How many of those people fell asleep and left the tele on? n/t

[Anexio]

36. To the OP...

What matters is how many Democrats vote not how many people watch the convention. I urge everyone to help get out the vote. Get your neighbors and friends registered in the next couple of weeks and make sure they actually vote, not just talk about it.

"Tele"??? Really? Are you an American?

[lisainmilo]

38. oh my!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[nradisic]

2. Bad news for McSame....

If more Americans saw McSame's speach than Obama's, the Republicans are totally screwed. All those people that saw the lame speech, also woke up this morning to a 6.1% unemployment rate.

[HughBeaumont]

21. And . . . are you ready . . . the EIGHTH straight month of job LOSSES!!!

Proving ONCE AGAIN Republicans completely SUCK the ass of the dead when it comes to running . . . well, anything, really. And no matter WHAT his Harvard Free Trade Pusher Feldstein tells you, shit ain't a gonna be NO different under McLoonyTunes and the Alaskan Crackpipe.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

26. people were watching McCain to see how he can screw up a speech

they counted all the things he didn't say

[theoldman]

3. They wanted to see if he was still alive.

[Orrex]

4. Oh, come on!

That's the last thing they want to see.

"One heartbeat from the Presidency" indeed. :scared:

[C_U_L8R]

5. Just goes to prove

more people will tune in for a train wreck

[glowing]

6. How many of the original Obama watchers are the same one's who turned in

to gauge the Republicans.. and how to take them down?

[proud patriot]

9. I watched some of the RNC

:shrug:

[Maine-ah]

16. I watched it.

I just didn't give my viewership to FAUX. I think everyone should have watched both conventions regardless of party affiliation.

[liberal_rxstudent]

19. I watched it....

well, most of it (left the room to keep my insanity a few times). I had to see how the repugs would try to counter Obama's speech (although Al Gore's was truly the best). I did love the backgrounds...hilarious! When McCANE walked out, he looked pastier/ clammier than usual against the bright blue background. And I loved how it changed throughout the speech. When he started talking, I sat with my jaw dropped. When he speaks, I think of the grandpa from the Simpsons. He did not seem to offer any solutions to any problems, and he seemed to just string along words in order to fill up time. **I also enjoyed seeing the protesters interrupt. Hahaha. Whew...:rofl:

[Old and In the Way]

7. Unless we know Party ID, it's meaningless.

I suspect more D's watched McCain, then R's watched Obama....prove me wrong.

[MadrasT]

37. That was my thought as well. It would be interesting if there were

any way to find out.

[Benevolent]

8. It's not about the ratings, it's about the votes

And polls say people want to vote blue.

[amber_86]

10. Whatever

some people just wanna see what he said, and then yelling at the TV. His speech sounded like Obama. It made me sick to hear him talking like he cared. All he was talking about was himself: Me me me and war war war. Just because people watch him, doesn't mean they are going to vote for him. Please get real.

[Snotcicles]

11. I don't believe it. nt

[NOW tense]

12. Were PBS and CSPAN counted?

I was so sick of the talking heads a watched CSPAN?

[NOW tense]

13. No ?

Too much wine

[brianna69]

14. McCain, Obama close in TV audiences

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26565127/

With PBS ratings included they basically tied in viewership.

[Doctor_J]

15. **COUGHorseshit***

The lies keep getting bigger

[GirlieQ]

17. I believe it.

I know I watched the speech last night, but I watched Obama in person...

Also, I know a lot of folks who are voting for Obama who watched the speech anyways. I doubt that many in the opposite position did.

[unkachuck]

18. and that makes....

....38.9 million disappointed television viewers....

....is he Republican?, no....is he Democrat?, no....is he an Independent?, no....then what the hell is he?

....he's a MAVERICK!!

Who's the short old geezer there,
Maverick is his name,
On the campaign trail to who knows where,
Schmuck is his companion,
Ramblin' is his game...

....explain this to me mister, rebel, Maverick, sir....how can you be a Washington outsider coming to clean up the mess when you've spent the last 26 in Washington with your buddies making the mess?

....doesn't that make you 'the same'?....is that 'the change' Washington needs?

[Joe Bacon]

29. The only Real "Mavericks" were James Garner and Jack Kelly.

OOPS, I forgot Roger Moore and Robert Colbert, too! :-)

[catnhatnh]

20. Of course it did...

...as naturally as the sun rising in the east....those who watched the Democratic convention were democrats and those who watched the republcan convention were almost ALL Democrats and the 20% of republicans that care.

Think about it-you watched SOME, didn't you???

[Arctic Dave]

22. I watched the last few minutes of it,

as soon as it was over it was like the talking heads wanted to pretend that he wasn't even on. They went straight to "how bout that Palin, isn't she great". McCain who? I couldn't help but laugh.

[EC]

23. That just means all us Dems watched it

to see how lame it would be, any additional would be the ones that actually tuned in to see if he would appeal to them...rather only almost 2 million tuned in to actually see him, we not so much...

[scarface2004]

24. this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever!!!

with the nfl starting and a rerun of scarface on bravo. how much fucking propaganda does this soviet style bloomberg rag expect anybody to believe. just make shit up and mail it in i guess!!

[quiet.american]

25. If true, once again, a Democrat led the way.

The Repubs got a powerful lead-in from the success of Obama's magnificent speech. Who wouldn't want to tune in to see just how badly McCain would fail to live up to the standard Obama set.

[stonenots]

27. It makes sense....

Most conservatives are afraid to have their views challenged and tend to only tune in to echo chambers (hence the popularity of Faux, conservative talk radio, etc.), and dismiss any other source of info to the contrary as a result of the "liberal media".

Progressives (or at least those I associate myself with), on the other hand, are masochists who submit themselves not only to relevant media, but also to this crap spewed by the right wing. We are firm enough in our own ideology that the challenge presented only reaffirms us.

[Cattledog]

28. The NFL gave McCain a 14 m bump.

As anyone who was watching the game knows ... it ended 1 min before speech. The switch was immediate.

[insleeforprez]

30. Ding ding ding.

We have a winner.

[Zorra]

31. No surprise. People that can't read watch a lot more television. n/t

[la la]

32. this always pisses me off....

many places do not 'get' any other channels, except for faux and cnn. what else would people in hotels, motels, on cruises, etc., watch? everywhere I went in the last week ---it was fox---that's why they have such high numbers of viewers- even in banks and lobbies.

just sayin'

[theophilus]

33. I was watching PBS, was Obama's speech on ABC, NBC, and

CBS live?

[Trajan]

34. Like watching a train wreck ....

A pretty sensational spectacle ....

Pay no mind to these numbers ... they mean nothing ....

[Mz Pip]

35. They came

They saw.

THey weren't impressed.