Univision is starting the year by placing a big bet on 24/7 reality competition, ¿Apostarías por Mí?, which could easily serve as the foundation for future programming.
The Spanish-language network is going all in on a format with a livestreaming component and the potential to captivate audiences not just in the U.S., but also throughout Latin America simultaneously, like never before.
Although unscripted formats have been part of Univision’s programming for years, with much success through shows like Mira Quién Baila, Nuestra Belleza Latina, and Enamorándonos, they had not tapped into the resurgence of the 24/7 format, something their closest competitor, Telemundo, has with La Casa de los Famosos.
The advantage Univision has is complete control over its OTT streaming service, Vix, and the results it has seen from adapting La Casa de los Famosos for the Mexican market. TelevisaUnivision has experience delivering a product that gives viewers complete control over the show they wanna see, with different camera angles online and the ability to affect the game via voting.
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To learn more about ¿Apostarías por Mí?, Deadline talked to Jaime Acero, Senior Director of Content Development and Non-Scripted at TelevisaUnivision, who gave us more insight into how the adaptation of this format came to be.
“Our mission consisted of looking for a 24/7 format with celebrities that we could make in the U.S. on Univision, UniMas, and Vix, that had something new, and that wasn’t La Casa de los Famosos,” Acero explained on the research for the format.
¿Apostarías por Mí? is a format from Abot Hameiri Communication, which is distributed by Dori Media International. TelevisaUnivision had successfully produced this format for three seasons before under the name of Inseparables: Amor al límite. The show brings celebrity couples together, testing their love by placing bets on each other in various challenges in hopes of accumulating the most money and gaining the love of the viewing public, who ultimately decide who stays and who goes.
For this new version, Acero tells us they wanted to reimagine the format to create a 24/7 show that captures everything that happens as the couples live under the same roof.
“We think that we have found a format that gets here in a necessary moment for our audiences, and we are very happy,” he added.
Audiences have been quick to describe ¿Apostarías por Mí? as La Casa de los Famosos with celebrity couples, but Acero explained what the differences are, saying, “La Casa de los Famosos is a popularity reality [show] where the contestants have a lot of downtime … We wanted to focus on the competitions and the game. Our 12 couples will play games every day from early in the morning. We are very active, we are playing, and we are betting, and those games will have consequences during the primetime shows.”
¿Apostarías por Mí? is set to air Sunday nights on linear via Univision, where the couples will be voted out by the public. The weeknight shows will air on linear via UniMas, where audiences will see a recap of the day’s events and the results of the challenges the couples face daily. A large part of the show focuses on the daily lives of the couples, living under the same roof and disconnected from their families outside. Viewers will be able to watch the show’s livestreams 24/7 on Vix, featuring cameras in the various bedrooms, kitchen, living room, patio, and more.
Acero noted that the development team at TelevisaUnivision worked for over six months to reformat the show so that, every day, something happened to keep audiences engaged.
To bring the format to life, TelevisaUnivision set its sights on São Paulo, Brazil, as Acero says the show needed “an open and extremely ample space” to host the challenges. Fremantle, which produces the show, has infrastructure in the South American country where it already produces a Brazilian version of the format, titled Power Couple. ¿Apostarías por Mí? would be produced on the same location as Fremantle’s A Fazenda, another 24/7 reality competition where celebrities live together on a farm.
Although the production is in Brazil, Acero assured that ¿Apostarías por Mí? would continue to have the Mexican and Latin flavor audiences expect, flying hundreds of people from Mexico and the U.S. to Brazil.
“This isn’t a Brazilian show that will air in our territory,” Acero explained. “We are using facilities, personnel in Brazil, and we are injecting it with workers from Mexico and Latin America to make the best product for our viewers.”
Jaime Acero addresses the ¿Apostarías por Mi? and La Casa de los Famosos battle
Univision premiered ¿Apostarías por Mí? weeks ahead of the return of Telemundo’s La Casa de los Famosos in February and Acero, acknowledges that when their competitors began, they were thinking long-term.
“We always value what our competitors are doing as it obligates us to be more prepared,” he said. “A healthy competition in any TV market is very important, and we are also going to take this on little by little. We are going to make this first season and have a lot of expectations because we have a multiview that they don’t have. They don’t have a solid streamer like Vix. They have another one, but with a different reach. We have also bet on different channels, not just one.”
He continued, “We will come out and produce the best content and the best show so everyone can talk about us. The numbers will come later, and we know that we have a strong competition, but that doesn’t stop us. We want to entertain viewers and give them options.”
The future of Univision in the unscripted arena
¿Apostarías por Mí? is setting the building blocks for what is to come at TelevisaUnivision in the unscripted arena. The network recently announced that its true crime talk show, C.D.I.: Código de Investigación, had secured format details in Spanish and Central and Eastern Europe. The announcement shows that TelevisaUnivision is not just buying formats to produce for its audiences; it is also creating formats and selling them to other markets.
In addition, Acero teased that in the second half of the year, TelevisaUnivision is already working on more reality shows, including a dating show that will capitalize on the matchmaking phenomenon popularized by shows like Love Island and Love Is Blind. Although Acero stopped short in revealing what format they are developing, it will undoubtedly fill the void on UniMas left by Enamorándonos.
Alejandra Espinoza and Alan Tacher host ¿Apostarías Por Mi? at TelevisaUnivision
Being that ¿Apostarías por Mí? has an international rollout, the hosts needed to have mass appeal and be mainly familiar with viewers in both the U.S. and Mexico. To headline the reality competition, TelevisaUnivision recruited Alejandra Espinoza and Alan Tacher. Espinoza was the winner of Univision’s inaugural season of reality competition Nuestra Belleza Latina and went on to host other shows for the network as well as star in the Televisa telenovela Corazón Guerrero. Tacher is best known to U.S. audiences for co-hosting the morning show Despierta América, but prior to that, he made history in Mexico hosting the reality competition La Academia, among other shows.
“I’m very excited,” Espinoza told us, referring to TelevisaUnivision’s decision to bet on her to host the show. “Humbly, I can tell you that it makes me nervous. I am very grateful that they have given me the opportunity, for the fact that they think of me and for the fact that they believe that I am capable of doing this alongside Alan Tacher, a project that they have bet a lot on.”
Tacher echoed similar sentiments, recalling that it had been 20 years since he last hosted a reality competition, adding, “I am grateful to the network for having thought of me.” With the show airing simultaneously in both Mexico and the U.S., Tacher acknowledges that he is also grateful for the love he receives from Mexican audiences despite not being on their screens for many years.
“That makes me happy — being able to return to Mexico with a show like this,” he adds.