Sarah Palin's vice presidential acceptance speech Wednesday night at the RNC drew almost 40 million viewers, beating out ratings for this year's Academy Awards, the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing and the "American Idol" finale.

The Associated Press reports that Palin had 16 million more people watch her speak than Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden at the DNC last week. Palin's speech also rivals Sen. Barack Obama's, who drew slightly more numbers than Palin.

This was Palin's first public speech after Sen. John McCain announced she was his pick for the vice presidential GOP ticket.