Seems ABC has elected not to play host to the Miss America Pageant anymore. I'm not surprised. As a brand, "Miss America" has utterly failed to keep pace with the times. In his TVWatch column for MediaPost, Wayne Friedman wisely sums it up:

Broadcasting & Cable (B&C) needed nearly 2,000 words to explain why "Miss America" failed. I'll explain it in five: The show is not entertaining.

Unbelievably, the producers of "Miss America" are blaming their crappy, declining numbers on a bad time period and "no marketing support." But we know the real answer: "Miss America", a forerunner, in a way, of today's reality TV, just can't cut it in an "America's Next Top Model" universe:

Good reality TV has the right mix of drama and beauty - not someone of modest talent and beauty. The talent portions of "Miss America" don't work. "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" on a tuba in a bikini isn't enough in a racy Maxim-crazed, "Desperate Housewives"-lurking TV viewing public. (Though, MTV's "Punk'd" might consider a short pitch).

I guess some people, ~~like the one I lifted my ticket JPEG from~~, will be disappointed. But the rest of us, if the numbers don't lie, are going to be just as happy to see this Miss go the way of the restrictive foundation garment.

xxx c