America’s Next Top Model nears end of runway
Watch it while you can. Word has come down that
America’s Next Top Model is on that long, slow runway to oblivion.
What? Yes, the series is still on the air, although precious few are bothering to tune in these days.
ANTM debuted in 2003 on the now-defunct UPN, and at its most popular (2004’s Cycle 2), creator/host/executive producer Tyra Banks could boast of 6.13 million viewers.
Since then, viewership dipped and slowly declined. It has been below 2 million since 2012 and last season only managed 1.56 million when it ended in December.
This season is hovering around 1.25 million — too few for even The CW not to pull the plug.
UPN merged with The WB to form The CW in 2006 and
ANTM was its first — and highest-rated — series with 5.13 million viewers.
The hyperbolically titled series, now in its 22nd cycle, will end its long run Dec. 4. If you want to catch it before then, it airs at 8 p.m. Friday. Past episodes are posted on cwtv.com.
Hyperbolically titled? The winners may have gone on to more of a modeling career than they otherwise might have had, but none have become household names.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest figures, there are slightly more than 5,000 professional models in the country. They earn about $16 an hour, for an average annual salary of $33,530. And it’s a short career. Cruel, cruel gravity begins to set in by their mid-20s.
Of course, each of those 5,000 dreams of being the next supermodel. According to Forbes, top model Gisele Bundchen will rake in $44 million this year (more than quarterback hubby Tom Brady’s $31.3 million).
Lesser lights, such as 23-year-old Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kate Upton, squeak by at a paltry $7 million annually.
Now would be a good time to watch ANTM because the final cycle has a promising Arkansan competing. Lacey Claire Rogers, 18, of El Dorado seems to be doing well, having three of her weekly photo shoots singled out as best since the cycle began Aug 5.
She certainly has the personality to fit the job. On her Web page, Rogers says, “I have been modeling for about a year and a half now. I’m also a bundle of goofy with a hint of sassy!”
Rogers is the fifth Arkansan to appear on the series. Two have actually won their cycles.
Danielle “Dani” Evans, 20, of Little Rock won Cycle 6 in 2006, and 25-year-old Krista White of Pine Bluff took home the honors in 2010’s Cycle 14.
Other Arkansans vying for top model were 21-year-old Kesse Wallace of North Little Rock in Cycle 1 (fifth place) and Furonda Brasfield, 24, of Stuttgart, who came in fifth in Cycle 6.
The show was a fascinating glimpse into human drama in the early years, but producers tweaked and twisted the format so many times in an attempt to keep the series fresh that something was lost.
Tweaks: Social media was introduced into the judging; the show ping-ponged between New York and Los Angeles several times; and the contestants’ increasingly intimate confessions of personal tragedy and woe felt all too exploitative.
There was an all-star season; a season featuring shorter models; seasons where male models were allowed (including the current one); a season where half the models were Brits; an all-college girl season; and seasons with different celebrity guest judges each episode.
The demise of ANTM reflects The CW’s ongoing transition away from targeting young women and toward a slightly older demographic that favors such programming as The Flash, Arrow, iZombie and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Further evidence: Last week The CW also announced the end of Beauty and the Beast after four seasons.
Don’t feel sorry for the 41-year-old Banks. She’s not a supermodel for nothing. Last month, Banks launched the syndicated daytime talk show FABLife, distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television.
The hour program has a similar format as The View and The Talk, with Banks chatting with model and food writer Chrissy Teigen, fashion expert Joe Zee, interior designer Lauren Makk, and lifestyle and do-it-yourself YouTube star Leah Ashley.
Banks’ new series airs at 10 a.m. weekdays on the Fox affiliates in Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas.
Take heart, ANTM fans. There might be one final fierce walk down the runway. The CW is in talks to cobble together a retrospective that would air in late 2016.