ABC's telecast of the Miss America bathing-beauty pageant Saturday produced the worst ratings in the history of the annual Atlantic City, NJ contest.

Averaging an 8.7/15, it fell well below the previous record washout, a 10.3/18 set in 1998. Last year's ratings, a 10.1/19, were the second worst.

Nevertheless, the contest gave ABC a rare overall win for the night, managing to beat NBC's baseball telecast, which averaged a 7.7/14. CBS's The District, meanwhile, managed to produce the biggest ratings for any network show during prime time, scoring a 9.3/16 in the 10:00 p.m. hour.

Source: Studio Briefing