Ugly duckling Miss America show gets some TLC

By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Cable channel TLC has acquired the rights to the ratings-challenged Miss America Pageant for the next three years.

The pageant -- one of TV's longest-running franchises -- had been without a TV home since cable channel CMT dropped it in March.

The next show will air live on Saturday January 26, 2008, from Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

TLC, best known for such unscripted series as "Trading Spaces" and "While You Were Out," will launch a reality series in conjunction with the pageant. It will follow the 52 contestants as they prepare for the competition.

The 86-year-old Miss America Pageant first lost its TV home in 2004 when ABC opted not to continue its seven-year relationship with the contest after record low ratings. CMT then picked up the pageant -- which was moved from Atlantic City, N.J. to Las Vegas -- with hopes of bringing in a younger audience to the telecast. This year's show averaged just 2.4 million total viewers.

Donald Trump and the Miss Universe Organization's Miss USA competitions continue to air on NBC, which earlier this year renewed it as well as the Miss Universe pageant for three more years, effective in 2008.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter