The Miss America Pareant is in trouble! They lost their TV contract with CMT. Why? Because nobody watched! Well, almost nobody. CMT estimates that this year's show was viewed by 2.4 million people. Compare this with Donald Trump's Miss USA pageant which recently aired on NBC and was seen by an estimated 7.4 million people! Impressed? You shouldn't be. In its heyday, Miss America attracted more than 80 million viewers! Miss America was seen on network TV for 50 years! What's wrong? Many things. First, Miss America needs a major network TV contract - NBC is part owner (with Trump)of Miss USA so they probably wouldn't be interested. There's CBS, ABC and FOX.
Next you need a solid host. Bert Parks was, well, Bert Parks. Tradition is important. My pick would be Howie Mandel. While we are on the subject of tradition, move the pageant back to Atlantic City! Why move it in the first place. Would you move Thanksgiving to June when the weather is nicer? Of course not! Next, and probably the most important, is promotion! Why isn't Miss America in TV commercials promoting products from health and beauty products to automobiles to, well...anything? I'm thankful that the demise of Miss America is not my problem. It's not costing me a dime, but, at the same time, it's sad to see an American institution bite the dust...especially when it dies of simple neglect.
