Miss America Returns to ABC
AC Weekly cover from 2005.
Look, I’ll admit it. When the Miss America Pageant rejected its Atlantic City home and booked it to Vegas, I lost interest in the pageant. I wasn’t alone. The ratings for the beauty … um, I mean scholarship pageant, continued to sink on the country cable channel CMT, before moving on to The Learning Channel where it gained a few viewers the past three years.
This was a far cry from its heyday when host Bert Parks sang “There She Is Miss America,” as the winner cried herself down the runway at Boardwalk Hall.
Now comes word that ABC will again broadcast the pageant for the next few years. According to Variety, under a three-year deal, the event returns to ABC in January. ABC dropped the pageant in 2005 due to low ratings.
There has been no announcement about where the pageant will take place, although it has been in Vegas since the move from Atlantic City. The Miss America Organization is still based locally.
“After thorough discussions and negotiations, we are confident that Miss America has reunited with the perfect network partner, ABC, which shares many of our same ideals and tradition,” said Sam Haskell, III, Board Chairman for the Miss America Organization. “Miss America’s move back to network television is perfect timing as we celebrate our special 90th anniversary and look ahead to reach new heights and create a new path for the future of Miss America.”
Go here for the AC Weekly story about when the pageant first left town.
Tags: Miss America Pageant
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