Miss America sets 2018 pageant date

The 2019 Miss America Competition will air Sunday, Sept. 9 on ABC, the Miss America Organization announced today. The competition will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, and will air from 9 to 11 p.m.

This year's competition "marks the dawning of a new day" for the competition, according to ABC. The pageant is the first since a scandal last year in which several male executives were found to have traded vulgar emails about contestants.

In that incident, emails from Miss America CEO and executive chairman Sam Haskell and several board members and employees showed vulgar conversations about contestants sex lives and appearances. The emails, dating to 2014, in which he and others in the Miss America Organization ridiculed contestants over their intellect, weight, and sex lives. The emails were leaked to the Huffington Post in December 2017, and their revelation prompted dozens of former Miss Americas — including former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson and Kate Shindle of Moorestown — to sign a petition calling on the group's leadership to step down.  Dick Clark Productions — which produces the pageant telecast — terminated all ties with the organization saying it was "appalled by [the emails'] unacceptable content."

Several higher-ups resigned as a result of the scandal, including Haskell and COO Josh Randle, among others. The organization has since announced that lead roles in Miss America will be handled by previous competitors. Carlson, has been named the head of the board of trustees, while the Miss America Organization told The Associated Press Thursday it is appointing Regina Hopper as president and CEO of the Miss America Organization, and Marjorie Vincent-Tripp as chairwoman of the board of the Miss America Foundation.

Last month, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority gave the pageant $4.3 million as part of a state subsidy. "The CRDA is encouraged by the Miss America Organization's description that [this year's] competition will be updated to include a focus on women's empowerment and other related projects," said board chairman Robert Mulcahy.

Tickets to the competition, meanwhile, go on sale in June via Ticketmaster.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.