We don’t know yet whether Barack Obama’s much talked about campaign ad was productive for his potential presidency, but we do know that it proved to be very popular. The so-called “infomercial” was the most watched program in U.S. prime time on Wednesday, as an estimated 33.6 million people tuned in for the Democratic presidential candidate’s political message, delivered just a few days before the long awaited Election Day, according to figures released on Thursday by Nielsen Media Research.

Barack Obama’s half-hour commercial, which ran at the same time on three major broadcast networks, CBS, NBC and Fox, as well as on BET, Univision, MSNBC and TV One, cost the campaign approximately $4 million.

The major networks alone drew a total of 25.5 million viewers, while during the same time period a week ago they lured together 24.3 million people. Barack Obama’s campaign advertisement saw its most significant audience on NBC, since the network was watched by 7.7 million viewers.

The spot’s audience outnumbered the 19.8 million viewers who tuned in for the closing stages of the World Series championship of baseball, which showed the Philadelphia Phillies winning against the Tampa Bay Rays. The game, which represented the night’s second most watched program, was run by Fox after Barack Obama’s campaign ad.

ABC was the only major broadcast network to pass over the spot and was forced to stick to its usual Wednesday night lineup. In an attempt to shield its knotty schedule, ABC tried to persuade the Obama campaign to run the commercial on a different night. Nevertheless, when the network decided to make space for the 30-minute ad, the campaign had already completed the buy, the Associated Press cited anonymous sources familiar with the situation as saying. Instead, ABC ran its “Pushing Daisies” “forensic fairy tale” series.

Just before the end of his 1992 presidency campaign, Ross Perot also offered a 30-minute “infomercial” that drew 22.7 million people, according to Nielsen Media Research.

In spite of the fact that Barack Obama’s campaign advertisement surpassed Perot’s, it did not manage to outshine the Democratic presidential candidate’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, which lured over 40 million viewers, or any of the presidential debates between Obama and his Republican opponent, John McCain. The second of the three confrontations was the most watched, averaging 63.2 million viewers.

The spot carried on Wednesday night by the seven networks showed Barack Obama talking about the financial problems of the country, as well as the health issues of Americans. Although the presidential candidate did not present new plans in the commercial, he emphasized that he would reduce taxes for the middle class.

Beside close-ups of Barack Obama, who was filmed in various locations, the commercial included images of his wife, Michelle Obama, his two daughters and old photos illustrating his African American father from Kenya and his white mother from Kansas.

The ad concluded with a live broadcast of a campaign rally in Florida, a state known for its Republican views.