The Miss America pageant returned to NBC this year after a run on ABC, with Thursday’s Miss America 2020 special scoring a 0.6 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic and 3.61 million viewers for its two-hour run.
The special saw Miss Virginia’s Camille Schrier — a biochemist who, among other things, performed an experiment to show off the colorful reaction of the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide — take the crown. But it also took a tenth hit in the demo and fell 17% in viewers compared with last year’s offering, which aired in early September.
It marks the second consecutive year the pageant hit all-time lows; last year’s ABC show was off 42%.
Still, Miss America 2020 tied for the top demo spot on a quiet Thursday that included the sixth Democratic debate on PBS and CNN (those numbers will come later). NBC won the night overall in the 18-49s, while CBS’ all-repeat lineup took the night in viewers (a Young Sheldon repeat was the night’s most-watched program). Fox also took the night off from originals.
Among the various specials and repeats on the night was ABC’s two-hour The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition (0.5, 2.65M), and CW’s annual iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour (0.3, 980,000) from 8-9:30 PM.
Gretchen Carlson Resigns As Board Chair Of Miss America Organization
