Jolie Rouge
10-20-2004, 09:59 PM
Miss America Dropped From ABC
http://cdn-channels.netscape.com/cppops/14/20040914_00001/i/missalabamawins135.jpg
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - ABC-TV has pulled the plug on Miss America, leaving the famous beauty pageant without a network television sponsor for the first time in 50 years.
ABC, which had carried the annual telecast since 1997 with a series of one-year contracts, notified Miss America Organization officials that they will not pick up the option this year, Acting President and CEO Arthur McMaster said Wednesday. ``This is a good day for the Miss America Organization,'' he said. ``We are now free to pursue other parties who have expressed interest in our organization, and we are excited at the limitless opportunities that are now available for us to grow our brand.''
The move, which comes on the heels of a Sept. 18 pageant that drew a record-low 9.8 million viewers, could jeopardize the foundation of a program that grew from an Atlantic City publicity stunt into a TV icon, largely on the strength of the contest and crowning beamed into millions of living rooms each September.
Since Lee Meriwether was crowned on Sept. 11, 1954 in the first televised pageant, Miss America has grown into a nonprofit corporation that makes available more than $40 million annually in scholarship aid and oversees 52 state pageants.
``It's certainly an ominous sign,'' said former CEO Leonard Horn. ``Whether or not they can get a contract with another network is going to be very important.''
ABC officials didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Publicist Cathy Rehl did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Wednesday.
ABC, which took over Miss America after 30-year sponsor NBC lost interest in 1996, has had rocky relations with Miss America officials in recent years, in part because of the low television ratings.
10/20/04 15:14
http://cdn-channels.netscape.com/cppops/14/20040914_00001/i/missalabamawins135.jpg
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - ABC-TV has pulled the plug on Miss America, leaving the famous beauty pageant without a network television sponsor for the first time in 50 years.
ABC, which had carried the annual telecast since 1997 with a series of one-year contracts, notified Miss America Organization officials that they will not pick up the option this year, Acting President and CEO Arthur McMaster said Wednesday. ``This is a good day for the Miss America Organization,'' he said. ``We are now free to pursue other parties who have expressed interest in our organization, and we are excited at the limitless opportunities that are now available for us to grow our brand.''
The move, which comes on the heels of a Sept. 18 pageant that drew a record-low 9.8 million viewers, could jeopardize the foundation of a program that grew from an Atlantic City publicity stunt into a TV icon, largely on the strength of the contest and crowning beamed into millions of living rooms each September.
Since Lee Meriwether was crowned on Sept. 11, 1954 in the first televised pageant, Miss America has grown into a nonprofit corporation that makes available more than $40 million annually in scholarship aid and oversees 52 state pageants.
``It's certainly an ominous sign,'' said former CEO Leonard Horn. ``Whether or not they can get a contract with another network is going to be very important.''
ABC officials didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Publicist Cathy Rehl did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Wednesday.
ABC, which took over Miss America after 30-year sponsor NBC lost interest in 1996, has had rocky relations with Miss America officials in recent years, in part because of the low television ratings.
10/20/04 15:14