U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's Wednesday speech drew over 37.2 million combined viewers on six TV networks, Nielsen Media Research said Thursday.

United States Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (L) poses with his vice presidential running mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin at the Republican National Convention in St Paul, Minnesota, Sept. 3, 2008. [Xinhua Photo]

The number is just short of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's 38.3 million viewers last week at the Democratic National Convention. The total also represents a 73-percent jump over the second night of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday. It also compares to 24 million viewers last week for Democratic vice presidential nominee senator of Delaware Joe Biden, and 26 million viewers for senator Hillary Clinton's prime time speech last week.

Palin gave a fiery address, criticizing Obama and saying Republican nominee John McCain is a much stronger choice to lead the country.

Since Nielsen began measuring viewer ship of the two parties' conventions in 1960, the Democratic convention has typically drawn more viewers. Election year 2004 was an exception. The Republican convention drew an average of 22.6 million viewers, compared with 20.4 million for the Democrats. In 2000, the Republican average was 19.2 million viewers, compared with 20.6 million for the Democrats.