CMT drops Miss America Pageant

NEW YORK, April 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. cable channel CMT has decided not to renew its option for the Miss America Pageant, leaving the pageant without a TV spot, a report says.

CMT, which has aired the pageant for the last two years, had a two-year contract to air Miss America, with the possibility of extending its deal through 2011, Zap2it.com said Sunday.

But after the ratings for the 2007 pageant were lower than expected, CMT decided to cut its ties with the 86-year-old pageant.

"While CMT deeply values its relationship with the Miss America Organization, the network has notified the organization of its plans not to exercise its option" for future broadcasts, said CMT officials.

The announcement came shortly after NBC decided to renew its contract with the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants for another three years.

"We are grateful for our two-year run on CMT which successfully led us into cable television and enabled us to achieve our goal to attract more viewers," said Art McMaster, president and CEO of Miss America. "We were able to achieve the highest overall ratings in recent years for the Miss America Pageant by reaching over 36 million viewers over multiple telecasts."