Miss USA Pageant tanks in ratings after Donald Trump controversy
We figure that one of the real reasons why Reelz Channel opted to pick up the Miss USA Pageant was simple: They wanted ratings. Sure, they realized that Donald Trump was a lightning rod of controversy, but even if the show generated a fraction numbers for the network that it did on NBC, it would still be one of the biggest broadcasts in the history of the show.
Still, we imagine that Reelz anticipated better ratings than what the pageant ultimately drew. Less than a million viewers watched the pageant on Reelz Channel, which marks a decrease of more than 80% from what it drew last year on NBC. A good percentage of this probably had something to do with viewers not knowing that the pageant was acquired by another network, and even many people who did may not have had Reelz. Of course, there were probably others protesting over Trump’s comments over Mexican immigrants.
In other words? Think of this as a reminder that not all publicity is good publicity.
What these ratings also teach us for the most part is that the Miss Universe Pageant is going to have a hard time finding a high-profile television home in the United States, even if it may draw big numbers in Asia and other parts of the world. Trump may not like to hear it, but at this point it may be in the best interest of him and the pageant for him to sell his stake in it and remove himself from the equation if at all possible. It would certainly help some of the women, since it is hard for this pageant to be even remotely relevant with these numbers.
For those who missed it, Olivia Jordan of Oklahoma was declared the winner this weekend.
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