Donald Trump purchases NBC stake in Miss Universe, now owns 100%

For those of you who were still wondering what the future of the Miss Universe Pageant is going to be, it appears that it will be the sole discretion of one Donald J. Trump.

As the businessman / former “Apprentice” star / current Presidential candidate confirmed on Twitter (see below), he now owns a full 100% stake in the Miss Universe Organization, which probably allows him to figure out who he wants to be its broadcast partner moving forward. NBC had already dropped the Miss USA / Universe Pageants after some of Trump’s comments about Mexican immigrants, and many countries have already pulled out of Miss Universe in protest.

There is still seemingly an ongoing lawsuit between Trump and Univision, the Spanish-language network who decided to also drop the Miss USA pageant earlier this year. We imagine that eventually, it will also go away.

So who could really air the event moving forward? Miss USA aired on Reelz Channel, and suffered a significant ratings drop as a result of it. While the network was happy to have it, their executives made a clear point of saying that they disagreed heavily with Trump’s comments and merely wanted to support the contestants. (Granted, it was also a ton of publicity for a network who doesn’t always get it.)

We will have more on the future home for these pageants as the news starts to break; ultimately, though, we feel like the real money-maker for Miss Universe comes via the international markets, as the event is enormously popular in parts of Asia, especially in comparison to its percentage stake in America.

If you missed the results of the Miss USA Pageant, you can read up about it over at the link here! Also, sign up now if you are interested in getting some more TV updates sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)