NEW YORK — President-elect Barack Obama's historic victory Tuesday night captured the attention of a record 71 million television viewers, a fitting conclusion to a campaign that saw interest in political news reach new heights.

Nearly a quarter of all U.S. television viewers watched the results come in between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. EST on 14 networks, outstripping the 61.6 million people who tuned into the 2000 election returns, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The winning network in prime time was ABC, whose anchor trio of Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos drew an average of 13.13 million viewers. It marked the first time since 1996 that ABC received the largest audience on a presidential election night.

During prime time, CNN — which showcased some of the most advanced technology — drew the second-largest audience, with 12.3 million viewers. That was 98 percent more than tuned into CNN's 2004 election coverage and the biggest viewership in the network's 28-year history.

Between 8 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. EST, which included Sen. John McCain's concession speech and Obama's victory address, CNN was the most-watched network overall, drawing 13.3 million viewers.