Election night draws 71.4 million TV viewers

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Some 71.4 million Americans watched prime-time television coverage of U.S. election night on Tuesday, a 21 percent increase from the presidential election in 2004, according to ratings released on Wednesday.

Nielsen Media Research measured audiences across 14 U.S. television networks, cable channels and Spanish-language stations for the three-hour period between the 8 p.m. EST closing of polls in many eastern states and the declaration that Democrat Barack Obama had been elected America's first black president.

In 2004, 59.1 million U.S. television viewers across 10 television networks watched prime-time coverage of the climax to the presidential race between Republican incumbent George W. Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry, the Nielsen figures showed.

Audiences on Tuesday night dropped slightly to 70.6 million in the three-hour time frame that included Obama's victory speech in Chicago and Republican Sen. John McCain's concession speech in Arizona, Nielsen reported.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Mary Milliken and Peter Cooney)