The speech held by presidential candidate Barack Obama during his acceptance of the Democratic nomination caught the attention of 38.4 million, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Not even the Oscars were so magnetic. The Academy Awards Ceremony drew 32 million viewers last year. Obama’s speech was delivered before 75,000 listeners gathered at the football home stadium of the Denver Broncos.

The speech also topped every night of the Beijing Olympic Games which at its best was a focus for 34.9 million viewers. The Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Beijing were watched by 34.2 million United States viewers.

Other events such as last spring's “American Idol” finale (31.7 million) and George Bush's last State of the Union address (37.5 million) were also topped by Obama’s speech held between 10 and 11 p.m. at the Investment Management Company Field in Denver.

However, Nielsen Media Research only counted the viewers who watched Obama’s speech on one of the 10 broadcast or cable channels. The audience might have passed the 40-million milestone with those who watched the event on a noncommercial outlet.

Obama’s speech was the most watched nonsports event in African-American households since 2001 when Michael Jackson’s anniversary concert took place.

Nearly 20% of those who watched the speech did it on CNN, which averaged about 8 million viewers between 10 and 11 p.m. ABC had 6.6 million viewers in that time interval, CBS News clocked 4.6 million to complete the top 3. Fox News Channel (4.2 million) and MSNBC (4.1 million) followed.