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 The pageants, part of a 50/50 joint venture with NBCUniversal
for the English-language broadcasts that together have in the
past year attracted 13 million viewers, would no longer air on
NBC "due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump
regarding immigrants" the company said in a press statement.
The decision by Comcast Corp-owned NBC was announced four days
after Spanish-language Univision [UVN.UL]said it would not air
the Miss USA pageant on July 12 and severed ties to the Miss
Universe Organization. Trump’s lawyer said the billionaire would
sue.
Trump, in announcing on June 16 that he was seeking the
Republican Party nomination for the November 2016 presidential
election, described migrants from Mexico to the United States as
drug-runners and rapists.
"They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're
rapists, and some I assume are good people," he said in opening
his campaign at Trump Tower on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue.
Public outrage and pressure followed, then the decisions by
Univision and NBC. Trump needs to find another partner to help
fund and broadcast the shows or he must pick up all the costs
himself and find another media company to broadcast them.
Trump had already said that while he was running for the White
House he would not take part in "The Apprentice" reality TV show
on NBC, in which he uses "You're Fired!" as his signature
command to eliminate contestants.
NBC said sister show "Celebrity Apprentice" licensed from United
Artists Media Group would continue.
The last season of Celebrity Apprentice averaged about 7.6
million viewers, according to Nielsen, which measures viewership.
Trump said on Monday that he stood by his comments.
"If NBC is so weak and so foolish to not understand the serious
illegal immigration problem in the United States, coupled with
the horrendous and unfair trade deals we are making with Mexico,
then their contract violating closure of Miss Universe/Miss USA
will be determined in court," Trump's statement said.
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The Miss USA show that aired on a Sunday in June 2014 averaged about
5.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen. It said the Miss Universe
show that aired on a Sunday in January 2015 averaged about 7.7
million viewers. By comparison, the series finale of popular TV
period drama "Mad Men" drew 3.3 million.
In the aftermath of Trump's June 16 comments, Mexicans rich and
poor, cabinet ministers and staunch critics of the government alike
reacted angrily.
On Monday, a television company owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos
Slim canceled a project with Trump, Slim's spokesman and son-in-law
Arturo Elias said.
Ora TV, owned by Slim and TV personality Larry King, was working
with some of Trump's companies.
"His statement was totally out of line ... working with someone so
closed-minded was not going to work," Elias said, adding that the
comments were racist.
On Monday, when Trump spoke to a sold-out crowd of 350 people at the
City Club in Chicago, a crowd of protesters, many of them Latinos,
demonstrated outside, Chicago media reported. “Trump is a racist,”
they shouted.
Political analysts have said Trump, despite being one of America's
most recognizable figures, is considered a long shot for the
Republican Party nomination in the field of more than a dozen
candidates.
(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru, Jennifer Saba in
New York and Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by Grant McCool;
Editing by Tom Brown and Lisa Shumaker)
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