Telemundo will add two starry telenovelas, “El Conde: Amor y Honor” and “Vuelve a Mi,” and a ninth season of its hit drama series “El Señor de los Cielos” to its 2023-24 primetime slate.
Telemundo is bringing star Fernando Colunga back to the screen after a multi-year break from novelas for “El Conde,” an established novela format. Telemundo’s spin is a period drama set in the 1930s and ’50s, revolving around a man who is thought to have died in jail but turns up 17 years later to the surprise of his family and associates. Other cast members include Ana Brenda Contreras, Marjorie de Sousa, Chantal Andere and Sergio Sendel. It was shot stages and on location
“Vuelve a Mi” is also a high-budget production, a love-triangle mystery revolving around characters who lives intertwine after a woman’s son is kidnapped. The series, set to run about 90 episodes, stars William Levy, Samadhi Zendejas and Kimberly Dos Ramos.
Telemundo will unveil the two series along with other programming plans for the coming season on the evening of May 15, as part of NBCUniversal’s presentations to advertisers to kick off the industry’s traditional upfronts week in New York.
Karen Barroeta, executive VP of NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, said Telemundo was focused on bringing established stars like Colunga and strong production values for the screen. Telemundo novela formats are often imported from Latin American producers and broadcasters. But the network has been focused for more than a decade on targeting U.S.-born Hispanics with shows and stories crafted specifically for Latinos who live a multicultural experience in the U.S.
Telemundo has been on a roll over the past year thanks in part to its World Cup 2022 coverage. The network still enjoys a high proportion of its viewing on the live linear network, rather than via on-demand streamers. Telemundo has a presence on NBCUniversal’s Peacock platform.
“We’ve achieved the numbers — luckily we got higher ratings than we projected,” Barrroeta said. “All we can do is try to get the best series out there. We’re betting on getting shows that people really care about and people feel connected to. We are very authentic in the way bring characters to life and diverse in the type of characters we develop.”
Telemundo has also set its first co-production with Turkey’s Inter Medya, and it has licensed another Turkish scripted series. Turkey continues to grow into a significant overseas market for studios and streamers, and it’s local production infrastructure is exporting more and more formats.
** “Trapped in a Blue Cage”: The first premium series to result from Telemundo Global Studios’ co-production agreement with Turkey’s Inter Medya. In this suspense drama, Oğuz has lost his wife and resettled with his children in a coastal town where fate has him save a young woman by the name of Defne and bring her into his home.
** “Secretos de Sangre:” This hit Turkish series revolves around a fearless lawyer and a respected prosecutor whose paths cross during a crime investigation.
