Created by Tyra Banks, who also serves as an executive producer, and developed by Ken Mok and Kenya Barris,[2] the series premiered in May 2003, and aired semiannually until 2012, then annually from 2013.

It was announced on January 24, 2006, that Top Model would be part of the new The CW network, a merge between UPN and The WB, when the seventh cycle started in September airing on Wednesdays.

Prior to the announcement of merging with The WB, UPN had committed to renewing the series through its ninth cycle on January 20, 2006,[6] for which casting was conducted throughout mid-2006.

On July 21, 2006, the writers of America's Next Top Model went on strike while working on cycle 7, set to premiere on the new CW Network in September 2006.

[7] The dispute was chronicled in a July 24 interview on the website Television Without Pity with Daniel J. Blau, a former recapper on the site who covered the series, and at the time was an America's Next Top Model show producer.

[10] With the start of the eighteenth British Invasion cycle, the program converted to high definition, becoming the second-to-last primetime show on the five major English-language broadcast networks in the United States to make the switch, and the last to air in the regular season to do so.

Makeovers are administered to contestants early in the season (usually after the first or second elimination in the finals) and a trip to an international destination is scheduled about two-thirds of the way through the cycle.

The original panel consisted of Banks (who also serves as its presenter), Janice Dickinson, Kimora Lee Simmons, and Beau Quillian.

In cycle 14, Alexander left the panel and was replaced by André Leon Talley, but continued as the series' runway coach.

After cycle 18, Banks fired long-standing cast members Barker, Alexander and photo shoot director Jay Manuel.

For the 24th cycle, Banks returned as the main judge and presenter, replacing Ora, while the rest of the personnel remained unchanged.

Though not a judge, Jay Manuel served as the creative director during contestants' photo shoots for the first to eighteenth cycles.

[15] The ANTM franchise released a clothing and accessories line based on the television show, which is sold at most Walmart stores.

[16] A video game loosely based on the series, also titled America's Next Top Model, was released for the Nintendo DS and Wii on June 1, 2010.

It features customization options for hair, makeup, and clothing, and also allows players to engage in catfights with other models.

The Tascha prototype would not make it to production (but still be featured in all of the marketing), due to MGA's fears that the doll, being African American, would sell poorly, as black dolls have historically been known to be picked up in low quantities or not picked at all by stores and retailers if they believed they would not sell, especially if they're located in cities with a low black population.

2015: Eighth-placing finalist Mirjana Puhar (cycle 21) was shot and killed on February 24, 2015 in her boyfriend's home in Charlotte, North Carolina.

[26] Many credit America's Next Top Model for inspiring later reality television shows, most notably RuPaul's Drag Race.

They drew parallels between Tyra Banks and RuPaul as black people "who (have) been at the top of their field" and "play a persona" on their respective shows.

[citation needed] Most importantly, America's Next Top Model "was one of the most queer shows on TV" with regard to the inclusion of Jay Manuel, J. Alexander and Benny Ninja on the judging panel and numerous openly LGBTQ+ contestants, most notably Isis King.

One such scenario highlighted was when cycle 12's final two contestants "were made to wear bikinis so skimpy that the producers had to blur out Allison Harvard's butt cheeks", and performed a "creepily sexual mud fight," after which contestant and winner Teyona Anderson was "commended for taking her weave in her hand and whipping it around on the runway like a sexy feather boa.

"[68] Allure magazine criticized the show in its October 2006 issue, saying that ANTM "hasn't exactly produced any actual supermodels.

"Tyra and I understand the influence 'Top Model' has on a generation of young people, and we want to make sure we get the right message to our audience," Mok said, which then prompted the "green" theme of cycle 9.

The rules of the competition stated that a contestant must not have appeared as a model in a national campaign during the five years prior to the production of the cycle in which they participate.

[72] America's Next Top Model is currently shown on TV internationally in 170 countries and regions, namely: Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and the whole of Southeast Asia (except Timor-Leste).

"[75] Slate's Torie Bosch points out that the international versions "have retained what works best about ANTM—the in-house drama, the torturous makeovers, the ridiculous assignments—while skipping what's worst about it: hokey judge antics, outlandish veneration of Tyra, and sob-story contestants.

"[76] In October 2008, The CW announced that it had ordered a spin-off pilot of America's Next Top Model, titled Operation Fabulous.

The proposed show would have starred ANTM creative director Jay Manuel and runway coach Mrs. J. Alexander as they travel the country to provide makeovers to everyday women.