MISS AMERICA Organization to cut TV show by one hour

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- Finding fat on Miss America isn't easy. Finding it in the pageant telecast should be, though.
That's what the pageant's TV producers will be doing this summer, trimming the annual beauty contest's live prime-time show from three hours to two in hopes of juicing up its Nielsen ratings.
"Who will be eliminated?" may be replaced by "What will be eliminated?" as the question foremost in viewers' minds when they tune in for the Sept. 18 telecast on ABC.
Will it be the parade of states, in which contestants -- starting with Miss Alabama, ending with Miss Wyoming -- introduce themselves to viewers and the live audience?
Will it be the reigning Miss America's farewell walk down the runway?
How about that fuzzy tell-us-about-your-platform segment?
Miss America Organization CEO Art McMaster isn't telling. McMaster, who announced the cutback to two hours Tuesday, won't say what he will recommend to pageant producer Bob Bain and ABC executives.
"There's nothing that's on the chopping block itself," McMaster said. "It's just a matter of reformatting the TV show to get it down to two hours. The whole show is being reformatted, from minute one to minute 120."
Last year's pageant drew only 10.3 million viewers, an all-time low, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The ratings slide has prompted pageant and ABC officials to look hard at Miss America's talent competition, an amateur hour with none of the pizazz -- or drawing power -- of "American Idol."