Obama's Afghan speech seen by 40 million Americans

President Barack Obama poses for photos with cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, December 1, 2009.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Some 40.8 million Americans watched President Barack Obama outline his strategy on U.S. involvement in Afghanistan on prime-time television on Tuesday, audience figures showed on Wednesday.

Nielsen said Obama's speech was carried live on 10 U.S. broadcast and cable networks, including Spanish-language stations Univision and Telemundo.

The audience of 40.8 million viewers was about 10 million lower than Obama's two televised addresses in February on the issue of health reform, the figures showed.

In his Tuesday address, Obama announced 30,000 extra troops for Afghanistan but said he hoped to start pulling out U.S. soldiers by the summer of 2011.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by John O'Callaghan)