After 12 years airing on Telemundo, the Spanish-language broadcast of the Miss Universe pageant will be moving to Univision.
It’s an interesting twist, since the deal with Univision was signed by the Miss Universe Organization, which is co-owned by NBCUniversal, Telemundo’s parent company, and the Trump Organization.
The Miss Universe Organization announced that as part of a long-term partnership, Univision will co-produce the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants, and that Telemundo’s competitor will now have the Spanish-language television and digital rights for both beauty contests.
A spokesman for Telemundo issued the following statement about the move:
“We are proud to have been the Spanish-language home of Miss Universe for 12 years and are thankful to Mr. Donald Trump and the Miss Universe organization for their partnership. Moving forward, we have decided to explore other exciting programming concepts to continue to serve our audience with the highest quality productions that drive viewership and resonate with our advertisers.”
Just last Saturday, the 2015 Miss Universe pageant was Telemundo’s highest rated telecast of the event in its history, reaching 4.7 million total viewers and almost 2.5 million adults 18-45, according to Nielsen.