• USA Today‘s Kathy Kiely: “In what Obama aide Linda Douglass described as ‘a bit of a high-wire act,’ the campaign cut from the pre-taped ad with a live feed from the rally. Obama’s ad ran simultaneously on several broadcast and cable networks at a cost of more than $3 million
• WaPo‘s Howard Kurtz describes the Barack Obama infomercial as “a well-produced ’60 Minutes’ report on the struggling middle class…” We disagree with that characterization, since there was no journalism in the half hour.
• Canada’s Globe & Mail (didn’t they already have their election?) live blogged the commercial, including this entry:
8:15 The informercial is promising ‘Live Obama later in the program.’ I wonder if he’ll be in that same office. Or maybe sitting on the lap of the Lincoln Memorial.
• From the LATimes’ Top of the Ticket blog: “Chances are, [the] infomercial will have minimal effect on the final outcome of the 2008 presidential election. Those leaning against the freshman Illinois senator were unlikely to be swayed by it (or even watch it).”
Also, yesterday we asked where you will be watching the commercial, or whether you’ll be watching at all. Here are the results:
I Won’t Be Watching — 51%
MSNBC — 25%
NBC — 13%
FOX — 6%
CBS — 4%
BET — 1%
TVOne — <1%
Univision — Update: Brian Stelter has the early ratings information: “More than 20 percent of American households watched the commercial…In the top 56 local TV markets, the household rating for Mr. Obama’s message was 21.7.”