The Miss America pageant took place this last Sunday and ended with a win for Miss Georgia, Betty Cantrell. While this will probably be considered a high point in Betty Cantrell’s life, it’s a low for the Miss America pageant. The show only brought in 7 million viewers for the majority of the show and topped out at 7.9 million during the last half hour. While this number might seem large to some, the pageant has nothing on the 24.5 million Sunday night football viewers.

The pageant has not always had a low viewership. The first ever TV broadcast of the pageant managed to bring in 27 million viewers in 1954. This is especially impressive considering that only about 50% of American households owned a television set in 1954. With Miss America pageant views steadily dropping, one can only wonder how much longer the event will be broadcast on television.

Staff Reporter- Alex Realey