Miss Universe is entering the streaming era.
Roku has acquired the English-language rights to the 2023 Miss Universe and will stream the competition live from New Orleans on Jan. 14 on its Roku Channel. It will mark the first time on a streaming platform for the Miss Universe telecast, which has aired on Fox for five of the past six years (cable outlet FYI aired the 2020 competition). Telemundo will carry the broadcast in Spanish.
The Miss Universe telecast’s move to streaming follows that of Miss America, which ran on Peacock last year.
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The Miss Universe Organization is constantly looking towards the future,” CEO Amy Emmerich said in a statement. “For the first time ever, Americans are watching more streaming TV than cable. With this profound shift in the way audiences watch content underway, we’re thrilled to partner with the Roku Channel to bring the Miss Universe competition to the streaming world and reach previously untapped audiences across the United States. We are elated to be partnering together to find more innovative, new ways to tell the stories of these incredible women.”
Once a staple of the broadcast calendar, Miss Universe has (like many network programs) suffered declining viewership in recent years. Fox’s telecast of the 2021 competition averaged 2.83 million viewers, the smallest audience of its run on the network. NBC aired Miss Universe from 2003-14; prior to that it had a more than 40-year run on CBS.
“The Roku Channel is thrilled to host the 71st Miss Universe competition to celebrate the achievements of women across the globe and give a platform to their many passions and causes,” said Rob Holmes, vp programming at Roku. “As more and more marquee events move to streaming, we’re excited to bring these exclusive experiences for free to our audience.”
Thailand-based JKN Global Group bought the Miss Universe Organization in October from Endeavor’s IMG. The organization was previously owned by Donald Trump, who sold it to IMG after NBC cut ties with him in 2015 early in his presidential campaign.
