Presidential candidate Barack Obama earned record-breaking ratings Thursday night, with 38 million people tuning in to watch him accept the Democratic nomination.

The final night of the convention received the highest ratings of the gathering, drawing more viewers in all the categories tracked by Nielsen Media Research, including all age groups.

The ratings surpassed the audience for the Summer Olympics in Beijing, as well as the one for the American Idol’s season finale in May.

It was a record night for CNN as well, as the network beat both ABC and CBS in head-to-head competition. CNN has never in three decades beat the broadcast channels in viewership when competing directly.

According to Nielsen, an estimated 24 million people watched the convention Wednesday between 10 to 11 p.m. on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, BET and TV One.

“It is extraordinary for us to beat the broadcast networks,” said Jon Klein, CNN U.S. president, according to The Associated Press. “This signifies what people have known all along about where to get news.”

The number of Hispanic viewers that tuned in for the convention grew considerably Thursday night, with an estimated 5.2 million households watching during 10-11 p.m. EDT, during Obama’s speech. During the previous three days of the convention, one million to 1.4 million Hispanic households tuned in to watch.

The African-American audience also grew, with 3 million more households tuning in to watch, compared with the previous three nights.

Obama’s speech drew twice the viewership for the acceptance speeches by President Bush and Senator John Kerry in 2004.