The 2015 Miss USA pageant drew in 37,874 viewers at its peak during Sunday’s live stream on the beauty contest’s official YouTube channel.
During the first hour of the program, viewership rose from 15,608 to 22,963. The second hour saw viewership continue to rise, going from 24,487 up to 32,039, with a noticeable uptick during the swimsuit portion of the competition.
The live stream peaked near the end, however, just before Miss Oklahoma Olivia Jordan was crowned the 2015 winner of the pageant.
The YouTube stream was not ad-supported, and presumably not a serious revenue generator for the pageant. During Reelz’s commercial breaks, the stream cut to a graphic featuring a billowing American flag. Reelz will not release the television broadcast ratings until Tuesday.
Among this year’s most watched live-stream events was the Super Bowl on Feb. 1. NBC reported that, at its peak, an audience of 1.3 million viewers streamed the game via the network’s digital platforms.
Olivia Jordan, Miss Oklahoma, was crowned the 2015 Miss USA in an anodyne pageant production Sunday night that went off without a visible hitch despite being embroiled in controversy over pageant co-owner and presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign-trail remarks referring to undocumented Mexican immigrants as “rapists.” NBC and Spanish-language broadcaster Univision dropped the pageant in June in response to those comments. Reelz then picked up the pageant’s broadcast rights for “no more than $100,000,” as TheWrap reported exclusively.
Last year’s Miss USA pageant on NBC drew 5.5 million total viewers in Nielsen live-plus-same day ratings, up from 4.6 million the year prior.
Trump did not attend Sunday’s ceremony, however, claiming he was too busy campaigning. He tweeted on Saturday, “I will not be able to attend the Miss USA pageant tomorrow night because I am campaigning in Phoenix. Wishing all well!”
Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant: Meet the 51 Contestants (Photos)
Miss USA Pageant
Madison Guthrie (Miss Alabama) Representing the University of Alabama, Guthrie was the only fan selected to be featured in the ESPN "Who's In?" 2014 college football commercials
Renee Wronecki (Miss Illinois) After she graduated from high school, Wronecki and her mother were both diagnosed with skin cancer. They're now cancer-free
Miss USA Pageant
Gretchen Reece (Miss Indiana) Reece is a registered American Kennel Club breeder. Throughout college, she paid for textbooks by saving money from three litters she sold
Miss USA Pageant
Taylor Even (Miss Iowa) Even hopes to graduate from college with a respiratory therapy degree and work at a children’s hospital
Miss USA Pageant
Alexis Railsback (Miss Kansas) Railsback has a fraternal twin sister named Ashley who is older than her by two minutes, but shorter than her by six inches
Miss USA Pageant
Katie George (Miss Kentucky) George was the Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year and Prep Volleyball's National Player of the Year
Miss USA Pageant
Candice Bennatt (Miss Louisiana) Bennatt serves as an Ambassador for the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Heather Elwell (Miss Maine) She can play seven different instruments including the flute, tenor saxophone and violin
Miss USA Pageant
Mame Adjei (Miss Maryland) Adjei's first modeling experience was at the age of six in Switzerland, when she was scouted to be featured in a Church brochure
Jessica Scheu (Miss Minnesota) Scheu is a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do
Miss USA Pageant
Courtney Byrd (Miss Mississippi) Byrd sponsors and writes to a girl in India through Compassion International
Miss USA Pageant
Rebecca Dunn (Miss Missouri) Dunn studied abroad in Europe and went on a mission trip to Africa where she visited orphanages in Kenya and Malawi
Miss USA Pageant
Tahnee Peppenger (Miss Montana) Peppenger plans on serving her state and country through public or military service
Miss USA Pageant
Hoang-Kim Cung (Miss Nebraska) Growing up, Cung built computers with her brother and now is learning how to code
Miss USA Pageant
Brittany McGowan (Miss Nevada) McGowan is multi-racial. She is English, Irish, Scottish, Italian, Puerto Rican and African American
Miss USA Pageant
Samantha Poirier (Miss New Hampshire) Poirier is a 23-year-old model, student and outdoor enthusiast from Dover, New Hampshire
Miss USA Pageant
Vanessa Oriolo (Miss New Jersey) Oriolo speaks English, Italian and Spanish
Miss USA Pageant
Alexis Duprey (Miss New Mexico) Duprey's family has three German Shorthaired Pointers. Lucca (the oldest) is a show grand champion.
Miss USA Pageant
Thatiana Diaz (New York) Diaz was features editor for Pace University's The Pace Press and interned at several companies including Vogue and Latina Magazine
Julia Dalton (Miss North Carolina) Dalton can quote every episode of the NBC series "Friends"
Miss USA Pageant
Molly Ketterling (Miss North Dakota) Ketterling attended the International Science Fair for two years thanks to her growing and studying cancer cells in a Petri dish
Miss USA Pageant
Sarah Newkirk (Miss Ohio) Newkirk was home schooled and did not have a television in her home until the ninth grade
Miss USA Pageant
Olivia Jordan (Miss Oklahoma) While at Boston University, Jordan won first prize in a pie baking contest, taking the prize for Alpha Phi in an all-sorority bake-off
Kiara Young (Miss Tennessee) Young has been a NFL cheerleader for the Tennessee Titans for two years
Miss USA Pageant
Ylianna Guerra (Miss Texas) Guerra has worked with various nonprofit organizations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Easter Seals, Proyecto Desarollo Humano and the Texas Children's Hospital
Miss USA Pageant
Nicol Powell (Miss Utah) Powell was a "Child of Light" ice skater for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City
Miss USA Pageant
Jackie Croft (Miss Vermont) Croft is ambidextrous, making her able to use both sides of her body equally
Miss USA Pageant
Laura Puleo (Miss Virginia) Puleo graduated from Duke with degrees in Latin and Attic Greek
Kenzi Novell (Miss Washington) After finding out Syfy would be filming a zombie television show in her hometown, Novell auditioned and was cast as a zombie in "ZNation"