Not only did the President beat Governor Romney, but President Clinton beat both the NFL opening game and Congressman Ryan (25.1/22.0). Mrs. Obama received 26.2 million viewers on day 1 compared to Mrs. Romney's total of 22.0 million.
Nate Silver had an excellent piece on the historical ratings being an indicator of a convention bounce. This was published on August 31st.
Regardless this is good news and obviously doesn't include any other form of media.
I think this shows that people are interested and I believe it will translate to a higher level of enthusiasm.