Neilsen Estimates Show Palin Convention Blockbuster

Allahpundit at Hot Air makes the case for a "ratings blowout" for Day 3 at the Republican National Convention.

It turns out that 37.2 million Americans watched Alaska Governor Sarah Palin make her prime-time acceptance speech at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

I'm on the e-mail list at Neilsen Ratings, which has sent its audience estimates for Day 3:

Nielsen just released its ratings for Day 3 of the GOP convention. Some highlights:

• The Sarah Palin speech generated 37.2 million viewers, just a 1.1 million viewers short of Barack Obama’s record-breaking speech on Day 4 of the Democratic Convention. The Palin speech was carried on only six networks while the Obama speech was carried on ten (including BET, TV One, Univision and Telemundo).
• Palin attracted a large female audience (19.5 million women, or 4.9 million more than Day 3 of the Democratic Convention).
• Ratings for viewers 55+ (25.2) continue to be about ten times higher than for teens (2.2)
• Day 3 for the GOP attracted more Hispanic viewers (1.4 million) than Day 3 of the Democratic Convention (1.2 million), even though Univision and Telemundo did not carry the speech.

See also the Nielsen Wire, "Palin Triggers RNC Ratings Spike."

Note, importantly, that Palin's convention address was carried on just six networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC.

Barack Obama's speech last week at Mile High Stadium in Denver was carried on ten networks (including BET, TV One, Univision and Telemundo).

The Republican Party has clearly captured the nation's imagination and interest this week - and John McCain's nomination of Sarah Palin as vice-presidential running mate is looking to be the kind of media game-changer that analysts argued was badly needed on the Democratic side.