• Miss America Pageant experiences turnaround

CEO will be a guest at Thursday evening 75th Anniversary Gala

• 
  COMMENT
   0
   0
• 

   Zoom

  Sam Haskell
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• By Gale Rose

  
  Posted Jun. 9, 2016 at 8:00 AM 
  
  Pratt, Kan.

  How do you resurrect something that is almost dead? That was the challenge Sam Haskell, chief executive officer for the Miss America Organization, had to face when he took over the operation 11 years ago.

  Haskell is coming to the Miss Kansas Pageant this year and will be part of the Miss Kansas Anniversary celebration Thursday, June. 9.

  When Haskell took over, the organization was almost bankrupt, ABC had dropped its option to broadcast the Miss America Pageant and they were worried how they were going to pay for the contestant scholarships.

  There were even concerns that the pageant would go away completely. Only about two million watched the pageant on a county music network and The Learning Channel. The average age of viewers was 57, Haskell said.

  The pageant was in bad shape. A call went out to Haskell who spent 27 years with the William Morris agency where he was one of the most powerful agents and dealmakers in the business. Even Miss America 1964 Donna Axum and Miss America 1971 Phyllis George asked Haskell to help save the pageant. He had to come up with a way to make the pageant relevant like it was during the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s and keep that relevance.

  Haskell, who was executive vice president and member of the WMA Board of Directors, retired from the agency in 2005 then took on the Miss America challenge. He thought he was going to retire but it’s been 11 years since he took over at Miss America.

  The journey has not been easy. He first had to address saving the organization financially. Haskell began by cutting 50 percent of the staff and made a deal with the Children’s Miracle Network.

  They began working with the Dick Clark Company and with Tony Eaton, executive producer/director and President of Tall Pony Productions.

  On the road to finding a way to be relevant and get the audience back, there were a couple of years when the pageant became like a reality TV show with contestants competing in a variety of challenges. The average age of the viewer began to drop and things began to turn around.

  Haskell wanted people to realize that Miss America is more than a one-night competition. The focus was on community service and scholarships and more focus on the fact that Miss America contestants are smart and talented. Talent is a key element that separates Miss America from other pageants.

  A National Day of Service was established where contestants in every state get together to perform community service activities and raise funds for every hour of service that will go to local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Some funds will also go to scholarships for contestants.

  “We’re all about service. We’re all about education,” Haskell said. 

  The turn-around has been a rebirth of sorts for the pageant. Eventually, ABC picked up the pageant again and has been the network for the pageant for the last seven years.

  Since Haskell took over 11 years ago, the Miss America Organization has raised over $12 million for scholarships and the Children’s Miracle Network.

  Chris Harrison, the host of the “Bachelor” TV show, is returning this year to host the Miss America pageant. He has hosted for nine years and has been an incredible friend to the Miss America Pageant, Haskell said.

  Haskell said has have been asked thousands of times what keeps Miss America relevant. He responds that the women in the pageant are talented, educated, beautiful and community service-minded and that’s about as relevant as you can get.

  A major outcome from competing is growth in character and developing interview skills for future employment. Many have shared that their participation in the Miss America program has helped prepare them for a great interview.

  All these changes have once again put Miss America back on the top. The average age of viewers is now 38. The 13,000 contestants involved in local, state and the national pageant have completed over 500,000 hours of community service in a year. The turn-around has earned Miss America a top 10 slot on the USA Today Most Important Pieces of Americana.

  Miss America is four years away from turning 100. The organization has made a remarkable turnaround and will continue to focus on scholarship and community service to stay relevant. Haskell is confident the pageant will stay strong for many years to come.

  “We have come from almost being extinct to being truly successful and back on top again,” Haskell said.

  http://www.pratttribune.com/article/20160609/NEWS/160609658