• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, October 31, 2008

Presidential candidate Barack Obama left his uneaten fish sandwich behind after his interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.

Wherever Obama goes, in this last week of the campaign, he leaves a lot behind. And cable networks want more of it.

On Wednesday night, Obama was on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," which gave that show its best-ever results -- 3.6 million total viewers and a 2.6 household rating.

The previous record for the show was on Oct. 8, when a Michelle Obama visit gave the show 2.9 million viewers. Barack Obama has been on the show three previous times.

Obama's half-hour political commercial also brought in some nice collective results among seven broadcast and cable networks -- 33.5 million overall viewers.

CBS crows that this political season has even revived its mainstay "CBS Evening News" show. Its news anchor Katie Couric, for example, not only had interviews with candidates like Sarah Palin that scored big for Internet and other digital viewing -- but CBS was also able to "monetize" those interviews, according to CEO Les Moonves.

For several months, the tight political race has been giving high ratings and solid advertising results to broadcast and cable news networks -- right when they need it, at the beginnings of an economic recession. CBS says, for example, it will pull in a total of $180 million in political advertising this season.

But what does the political season leave behind? In the next several months, there's another advertising story coming. In 2009, there will be little political revenue, no Olympic advertising, and surely several months of a recession where the country will see contracting economic growth.

As they glance in the rear view window, networks will recall this current period with a smile -- wistfully remembering big interviews and big infomercial dollars. For the road ahead, many will grip steering wheels tighter.