Amber waves of grain, arthritis ointment application, an emotionally distant Sarah Silverman the morning after—The Barack Obama Show really offered something for everyone. And by "everyone" we'd include network heads, as preliminary Nielsen numbers show the 30-minute hope-infusion juiced ratings across the board. Even ABC's struggling Pushing Daisies benefited from a small counter-programming bump, though still only managed to squeak out a meager 2.2. From THR:

The entertainment programming that usually runs in the time period on the three broadcast networks carrying the ad averaged a 15.4 during its last nonsports telecast (compared to about 17.7 for Obama)...And keep in mind Obama was competing with himself. [...] The Ross Perot specials in 1992 averaged a 16.8 rating across the three broadcasters, but those were 15 separate specials that ran on different nights.

Perot's own strong showing should warn supporters not to read too much into infomercial ratings as election night predictors, though, as audiences were just as desperate then for viable programming alternatives to Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and Blossom as they are with today's primetime drek-offerings of Knight Rider and Gary Unmarried.