Miss USA dropped by The CW one week before pageant is set to air

The 2026 Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants have been dropped by The CW just one week before they were scheduled to air on the network, with the competitions now moving back to streaming.

The CW and the Miss USA Organization announced on August 21 that they had been unable to resolve a contractual issue ahead of this year's events. The pageants were scheduled to air live on August 26 and 27, but will instead be streamed through the Queen Beauty Network.

In a joint statement, the organizations said they were unable to reach "mutually agreeable terms for this year's event." Both sides expressed appreciation for their previous partnership and indicated that they remained open to working together again in the future.

The last-minute change means this year's competitions will not return to traditional broadcast television as originally planned. The pageants had been scheduled to make their television comeback after the 2025 competitions were streamed instead.

The CW began airing Miss USA and Miss Teen USA in 2024, marking the first time the competitions had returned to broadcast television in years. The network had announced a multi-year partnership with the pageants in April 2024.

The 2026 events were expected to be particularly significant because this year's Miss USA competition marks its 75th anniversary. The competition is taking place in Miami, with the Miss USA final scheduled for August 27.

The change is another setback for the Miss USA Organization, which has experienced significant upheaval in recent years. In 2024, Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt and Miss Teen USA 2023 UmaSofia Srivastava both resigned their titles amid allegations of bullying and mistreatment involving the organisation's then-CEO Laylah Rose. The allegations were denied.

The organisation also underwent a leadership change in 2025, when pageant executive Thom Brodeur took over the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA competitions. Earlier this year, Miss North Carolina USA Brittany Boltinhouse was stripped of her title following what the organisation described as conduct violations. Boltinhouse disputed the decision and claimed her conservative views played a role, and she has since pursued legal action.

Despite the broadcast setback, the competitions themselves are going ahead as planned. Contestants will still compete for the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA crowns, but viewers who had expected to watch the finals on The CW will now have to turn to the Queen Beauty Network instead.

The decision also marks the second consecutive year that Miss USA and Miss Teen USA will not be shown on traditional broadcast television, highlighting the continuing uncertainty surrounding the pageants' television future.