Ratings for Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Were Abysmal

A vanishingly small number of people watched the Miss USA telecast this year. But it’s not because this hair-sprayed spectacle is so dated that “telecast” feels like an appropriate term.

Rather, the pageant found itself all dressed up with nowhere to go, when—in the wake of Donald Trump’s remarks about Mexicans—Univision and NBC finally realized the dude’s a shithead and both dumped the broadcast at the last moment. The show went on when Reelz stepped in and bought the rights, but USA Today reports that according to Nielsen, a mere 925,000 people watched this year’s uncharacteristically Trump-free edition. Last year, 5.6 million tuned in. That’s an implosion big enough to leave a crater.

Although it must be said that Reelz is probably still happy with the outcome. According to The Wrap, they got the broadcast for a mere $100,000. Ouch!