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Miss America Goes Country
Miss America is trading in her high heels for cowboy boots and spurs, y'all.
The venerable beauty pageant, dropped by ABC last year after scoring dismal ratings, has found a new home on Country Music Television.
Earlier this week, CMT and the Miss America Organization signed a multiyear broadcasting agreement, securing the pageant's small-screen future through 2007, with options to extend the deal through 2011.
So far, it's unclear whether the agreement means that the pageant will eventually be trading its traditional location of Atlantic City for CMT's Nashville headquarters.
The delay in securing a broadcast agreement pushes the crowning of the next Miss Americato January 2006, as opposed to the usual September or October date--meaning chilly weather for ball gown-clad beauty queens.
CMT is planning a multimillion-dollar promotional push behind the repackaged pageant, which will be made over into "a signature event for CMT," Brian Philips, CMT's executive vice president and general manager, said in a statement.
The all-American girl theme of the pageant fits with the interests of CMT's audience, according to Paul Villadolid, vice president of programming and development for CMT.
"Many of these young women come from areas that our audience cares about," he told the New York Times. "They are small-town women who are looking for a break, to fulfill a dream, and one thing we will want to do is to draw out these story lines so that when they get to the pageant we will have a sense of who they are."
Villadolid said one change in the pageant's structure may be the addition of behind-the-scenes footage showing the contestants in a less structured environment--giving the show more of a reality TV element.
"One of the things that you're lacking is a real sense and understanding of who these women are as real people," he told the Times.
As CMT is part of MTV Networks, corporate cousin VH1 will broadcast Miss America-themed programming leading up to the pageant's January premiere in an effort to introduce viewers to the contestants ahead of time.
"We're thrilled to be in business with the Miss America Organization," MTV boss Brian Graden said in a statement. "This partnership presents a tremendous opportunity for CMT and MTV Networks, and we look forward to celebrating this American institution across a variety of platforms."
Last year, only 9.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the reigning Miss America Deidre Downs receive her crown. As a result, ABC, which had broadcast the pageant since 1997 and paid $3.2 million for the privilege to do so last year, kicked the beauty contest to the curb.
Art McMaster, CEO of the Miss America Organization, said he would not reveal the terms of the financial agreement with CMT.
The country cabler currently reaches some 79 million households.
Our advice to Miss America wannabes? Insert some country flair into your talent segment.
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