Despite a move to a new time slot and a massive marketing effort, Monday's newly repackaged Miss America Pageant got a smaller, albeit younger, audience.

About 2.4 million viewers watched Country Music Television's prime-time crowning of Miss Oklahoma Lauren Nelson on Monday night, according to Nielsen Media Research ratings.

That's down from the 3.1 million people who watched a Saturday crowning in 2006 on CMT, and about a quarter of the viewers who watched the show in 2004, its last year on network television.

After years of slipping ratings, CMT picked up the pageant in 2005, promising to restore its must-see status. It moved the pageant to Las Vegas from Atlantic City, N.J., generating hype that helped make the 2006 crowning the most-watched program in the MTV-owned channel's history.

The new Monday-night slot and this year's marketing campaign, which included an Internet game and a slew of new reality-TV elements, were aimed at attracting a broader and younger audience.

Producers say the changes were partially successful, noting the median age for viewers of the telecast was 43, down eight years from last year.

"Pageant School," a reality TV special aimed at funneling viewers toward the pageant, was seen by more than 16 million viewers in 10 total replays on CMT, VH1 and MTV, the network said.

CMT executive producer Sarah Brock said in a statement that the network is thrilled to have delivered a significantly younger audience in one year.