If you’re going to be accused of being a celebrity, you might as well enjoy some of the perks, too, as Democratic nominee Barack Obama did on Thursday night, when some 40 milion Americans tuned in to watch his momentous acceptance speech at Invesco Field.

The New York Times:

At least 40 million Americans watched Senator Barack Obama accept the Democratic nomination for president Thursday night, a record for convention viewership that exceeded even the expectations of his aides.

The historic speech by the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party reached 38.4 million viewers on 10 broadcast and cable networks, Nielsen Media Research said Friday. PBS estimated that an additional 3.5 million had watched its prime-time coverage.

The ratings dwarfed the audience for the Summer Olympics and the season finale of “American Idol” in May, and added to what was already a sense of buoyancy within the Obama campaign that the night had gone better than planned.

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#american idol#barack obama#democrats#dnc#kirstjen nielsen#nomination#olympics#president#speech