Azteca America has secured the Spanish-language rights to this Sunday night's telecast of The Miss Universe Pageant, rights that became available after then-owner Donald Trump made incendiary remarks concerning Mexican immigrants (as part of his presidential campaign) and Univision dropped the telecast, as did NBC. Fox is the English-language broadcaster for this year's pageant, which Trump sold to WME/IMG after acquiring NBCUniversal's stake in The Miss Universe Organization as part of litigation settlement with Telemundo parent NBCU.
The telecast will be Sunday (Dec. 20) at 7-10 p.m. ET.
The pageant features contestants from more than 80 countries, and five of the last seven winners have come from Latin American countries. The reigning Miss Universe, Paulina Vega, who will crown her successor at the end of the evening, is from Colombia. Contestants are judged in three categories: evening gown and interview. In English, the pageant will be hosted by Steve Harvey, and on Azteca America for the Spanish-language broadcast the hosts are Vanessa Claudio and Poncho de Anda. The telecast is distributed in more than 190 countries worldwide and is seen by more than half a billion people annually. Azteca-owned Azteca America says it reaches 67% of U.S. Hispanic households.
