Miss America will continue on ABC.
The Disney-owned network has extended its contract with dick clark productions and the Miss America Organization to air the competition through 2018. The new pact for the domestic broadcast rights adds three years to the existing contract, which was scheduled to expire in 2015.
“We are so pleased to continue our successful partnership with ABC. Miss America, dick clark productions and ABC have worked tirelessly to make the national competition one of the most important specials on television,” said Miss American Org. chairman and CEO Sam Haskell in a statement announcing the news Monday.
Added dick clark productions president Mike Mahan, “We are happy to extend and build on our partnership with Miss America and ABC. We look forward to growing the Miss America legacy for years to come.”
The pageant made news earlier this fall when Vanessa Williams returned to the pageant stage as head judge for the Miss America 2016 competition 32 years after resigning. The night, which drew a robust 7 million viewers, kicked off with Haskell issuing a public apology to Williams. Tony Eaton and Tall Pony Productions are set to produce the 2017 Miss America competition.
Also seeing the event-ized potential of such competitions, WME/IMG announced in Sept. that it would buy the Miss Universe Organization from Donald Trump. The latter includes Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants.
