Azteca América is now offering a Lisbon-set tale of the scorpion’s kiss as an online exclusive.

The Spanish-language broadcast network on Sept. 2 premiered a dubbed-in-Spanish version of the TVI telenovela O Beijo do Escorpião (“The Kiss of the Scorpion”) across its digital platforms.

The series, written by Antonio Barreira and Joao Matos, aired in Portugal from February-October 2014; it was also successful in Brazil. Curious U.S. viewers can now check out a new episode each day at Azteca’s website, AztecaAmerica.com.

Known in Spanish as El Beso del Escorpión, the telenovela tells the story of Rita and Alice, two women who discover they are sisters after their mother dies, setting off a conflict between the two women. Alice wants to have Rita’s life, while Rita wants to include Alice in the life she has built with her husband, Fernando. The well-intentioned Rita does not suspect that her sister is actually a monster who has come into Rita’s life to exact revenge by taking her place and destroying everything Rita has built.

O Beijo do Escorpião was produced by Plural Entertainment Portugal.

Azteca did not comment on as to why the series will be an online-only offering in the U.S.

The Spanish-language version of the telenovela is also airing in Chile, where it debuted on Canal 13 in  late August.

Univision is launching a new app designed for fans of its popular telenovelas.

The UniNovelas app will offer watch-and-play prizes to viewers beginning with the new telenovela Antes Muerta Que LIchita, which premieres Tuesday.

Other features available via the app include news feeds with video and photo content users can share; character blogs; fan content such as cards, fan art and personality quizzes; and a special webnovela, Corazon Enamorado.

“[W]ith 91 percent of our viewers watching our programming live, creating a telenovela fan community enabled by the UniNovelas app was a natural extension,” said Mark Lopez, executive VP & general manager of Univision Digital.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

The latest telenovela to cross the border from Mexico, courtesy of Televisa, has found a home on Univision, on weeknights at 10 p.m.

Yo no creo en los hombres (“I Don’t Believe In Men”) features prolific telenovela actor Gabriel Soto (Querida Enemiga, La Fuerza del Destino, Sortilegio) as Maximiliano Bustamente, “a handsome and honest lawyer” who meets poor and noble girl Maria Dolores — played by Adriana Louvier (Quiero Amarte, La mujer de Lorenzo) — while at a police station.

Maria Dolores has arrived at the police station after being unjustly fired from her job as a seamstress, due to false accusations of theft from her supervisor. The drama continues as Maria Dolores faces pressure to care for her family after the death of her father, whom she is wrongly suspected of murdering.

Impressed by her spirit and beauty, Maximiliano offers to help her while faced with the possibility of falling in love, even though he is engaged to a high-society woman who is cheating on him with her tennis instructor. Meanwhile, Maria Dolores is dating a man who, unbeknownst to her, is engaged to a young plain-Jane heiress who agrees to help him avoid his family’s bankruptcy.

Yo no creo en los hombres makes its debut in the U.S. after scoring awards for Best Lead Actress (Louvier), Best Lead Actor (Soto), Best Male Antagonist (Flavio Medina), and nine other categories at the 2015 Premios TV y Novelas. This is the third incarnation of the telenovela, which first aired on Televisa in 1969 and was then retooled in 1991, with the remake airing on Canal de las Estrellas in Mexico. This version is a remake of the 1991 version, which aired on Canal de las Estrellas from September 2014 through mid-February 2015.

Pasiones , the telenovela-centric, Hispanic-targeted cable network, has acquired the rights to three Spanish-language soap operas under a newly minted agreement with Sony Pictures Television.

Marking its return to U.S. cable for the first time since its premiere on Telemundo eight years ago is El Zorro: La Espada y La Rosa, airing on Pasiones weekdays at 6 p.m. (ET). Also included in the three-telenovela deal are two other series that ran on Telemundo: Doña Barbara, which originally aired in 2008-09, and La Prepago, a 2013 series produced for RCN Television in Colombia. Their premiere dates were not announced.

“This deal with Sony reinforces our commitment to deliver top-quality telenovelas and series with proven success records across Latin America to our viewers,” said Francisco Gimenez, GM of cable networks for Hemisphere Media Group, which owns Pasiones and also includes WAPA América among its holdings.

Separately, Pasiones has signed a deal with Televisa to acquire the Latin American broadcast rights to the telenovelas Corazon Salvaje, Sortilegio and Triunfo del Amor. The network is prohibited from airing the shows in the U.S. due to Televisa’s relationship with Univision.

Pasiones will add other telenovelas acquired from Televisa to its LatAm feed later this year.

NBC is preparing to add a “telenovela” to its prime-time lineup.

Just don’t expect any complex Cinderella-like storylines. Instead, prepare to laugh.

Telenovela is the name of a forthcoming comedy set to star Eva Longoria, in her first leading role on TV since ABC’s Desperate Housewives, and singer Jencarlos Canela, who just kicked off his 2015 tour Feb. 6 in Toronto.

The Peacock network has given Telenovela a 13-episode order, which came only after Longoria committed to star. The scripted series will take viewers behind-the-scenes look at a fictitious Spanish-language soap opera.

Written and produced by Jessica Goldstein and Chrissy Pietrosh, most recently co-executive producers for TBS’ Courteney Cox helmer Cougar Town, Telenovela features Longoria as Ana Maria, the star of the No. 1 telenovela in Latin America. Canela will portray Xavier, a character described only as integral to the show’s plot.

Longoria will also serve as an executive producer, along with Ben Spector of Universal TV-based UnbeliEVAble.

In a cross-promotion tactic, Telenovela will incorporate snippets of NBCU-owned Telemundo’s real telenovelas as appropriate.

Telenovela is the latest turn by a Big Four broadcast network to attract Latino viewers with English-language programming tied to the Spanish-language soap opera, which remains the most-watched programming genre among U.S. Hispanics, according to Nielsen.

The CW has seen success this season with the Gina Rodriguez-helmed Jane the Virgin, which features a highly complex (albeit tongue-in-cheek) telenovela structure to its plotline. It has been nearly nine seasons since ABC’s groundbreaking Ugly Betty, an English-language adaptation of the legendary Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty, La Fea, broke the mold for English-language networks.

NBC has not yet announced an air date for Telenovela. However, details are expected at the network’s fall Upfronts later this spring.

UniMás, younger sibling of eponymous market-leading Spanish-language broadcast network Univision, has added two new telenovelas to its prime-time lineup; each features a story line involving a drug lord and illegal narcotics activity.

Airing at 9 p.m. weeknights is Tiro de Gracia, starring Robinson Diaz in a double role as Vicente Vallejo, a powerful and eccentric drug lord, and as Salvador Chaparro, a humble theater actor. Vallejo is one of the world’s most wanted criminals, and he’s determined to find his doppelganger. When he does, he forces the actor to serve as his double by threatening to kill his family. Chaparro, while masquerading as the drug lord, falls in love with a beautiful young woman seeking to avenge Vallejo’s murder of her sister. 

At 10 p.m. is La Esquina del Diablo, featuring Ana Serradilla, known for her star turn in the telenovela La Viuda Negra. Serradilla portrays Ana García, a young policewoman who whose father was killed in the line of duty. She wants to join a prestigious special forces unit, but her explosive personality stands between her and her goal. Eventually, Ana goes on an undercover mission to capture dangerous drug cartel leader Angel Velasco, played by Christian Tappan.  

UniMás said it expects the gritty story lines in both telenovelas to appeal to young men as well as the traditional telenovela viewers. The shows premiered on UniMás on January 13. Tiro de Gracia is a co-production of Caracol TV and Televisa, while La Esquina del Diablo is a Televisa/RTI production.

The latest Televisa import from Mexico has landed on Univision’s prime-time slate.

Que te Perdone Dios, described as “an epic story about secrets and sins,” debuted in the network’s 10-p.m. timeslot on Jan. 19.

The telenovela, shot on location throughout Mexico, features Rebecca Jones in the role of Renata, the daughter of a wealthy family who falls in love with the foreman at her father’s ranch. Her father disapproves; he threatens the foreman; and Renata is forced into an unhappy marriage with a cruel man, while her daughter with the foreman believes Renata is her godmother.

Que te Perdone Dios will vie for viewers with Telemundo’s Dueños del Paraiso, the highly anticipated new telenovela featuring Kate del Castillo that will occupy the same timeslot. Univision executives expressed confidence in the new telenovela, as it has yet to air in Mexico (or anywhere else).

“The worldwide premiere of Que te Perdone Dios on Univision speaks to the strength of the relationship with Televisa and our commitment to deliver the best, original content year-round to our audiences across platforms,” Univision president of programming and content Alberto Ciurana said.

Produced by Angelli Nesma Medina for Televisa, Que te Perdone Dios’ cast includes Zuria Vega (Qué Pobres Tan Ricos, Un Refugio Para el Amor), Mark Tacher (Qué Pobres Tan Ricos, Abismo de Pasión, Triunfo del Amor) and Brandon Peniche (La Malquerida, Corazón Indomable).