The Philco Corporation and ABC network televised the first live Miss America broadcast on Saturday September 11, 1954. Twenty seven million viewers from coast to coast shared the thrills of the Boardwalk Hall audience as they watched from their own homes as California's Lee Meriwether captured the title for 1955. Bob Russell was the emcee. For the first time, the pageant also featured it's first "Illuminated Night Parade" down the Boardwalk.