Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesBarack Obama beat Pushing Daisies. Three times.
Same story for Tyra Banks.
The presidential candidate's half-hour infomercial pulled in more viewers last night on each of the three broadcast networks it aired (CBS, NBC and Fox) than either Pushing Daisies or America's Next Top Model pulled in for ABC and the CW, respectively.
The race wasn't even close.
Overall, the Obama show averaged a combined 26.3 million on CBS, NBC and Fox, Nielsen estimates said.
Add in MSNBC, BET, Univision and TV One, and the Super Shammy-free pitch was seen by 33.6 million overall, or more people than watched this past year's Oscars (but millions fewer than caught any one of the three Obama-John McCain debates).
On cable, Obama drew his biggest audience on MSNBC (3.5 million). On free TV, he ruled on NBC, which might want to consider signing up the Illinois senator for a spin in KITT after scoring numbers (9.8 million viewers) it hasn't seen this fall from its usual Wednesday lead-off show, Knight Rider.
The numbers were almost as strong for CBS (8.6 million) and Fox (7.9 million). By comparison, from 8-8:30 p.m., Pushing Daisies averaged 6.8 million; Next Top Model, which was preempted in Los Angeles for basketball, drew 3.5 million.
Obama came in first in his time slot in adults 18-49. He placed second and third, too.
Obama did best among women 25-54, and worst among boys 12-17, who, as the candidate's luck would have it, can't vote anyway.
Crunching the numbers, the Hollywood Reporter found that Obama attracted more viewers than the CBS, NBC and Fox shows that normally air Wednesdays from 8-8:30 p.m.
The news was not all bad for Pushing Daisies, which gets next week off. For one thing, it was actually up overall by nearly 1 million viewers from last week, ABC said. For another thing, regardless of what happens Election Day, it'll still be in business.
(Originally published Oct. 30, 2008, at 11:37 a.m. PT.)