Things just got a little steamier for Cox Communications subscribers who crave more telenovelas in their life.

Cox Communications has added Hemisphere Media Group’s Pasiones pay TV network to its Latino Pak video service in Las Vegas; Orange County/Palos Verdes, Calif.; Phoenix; San Diego; Tucson; and across the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Pasiones devotes its lineup to female-friendly telenovelas and dramatic series, with U.S. and Latin American feeds. Both iterations offer a mix of first-run premieres and popular series from the world’s largest novela and content providers.

Cox’s Latino Pak subscribers will get Pasiones just in time to watch three series premieres:

• Gabriela, a co-production between TV Globo and Warner Bros., based on the classic Jorge Amado novel Gabriela, Clavo y Canela, is the tale of a beautiful, young, and deprived immigrant who arrives to a city in northeastern Brazil and mesmerizes everyone with her sensuality. New episodes air at 9 p.m. (ET) Monday-Friday.

• Inolvidable, a Turkish import about a love triangle that will turn two sisters against each other. A debut date and time has not yet been announced.

• Ella Era Bonita, a Korean drama about two young friends who meet again after they've gone through a reversal of fortunes and appearances. New episodes are presently airing at 4 p.m. (ET/PT).

Meanwhile, Hemisphere’s Puerto Rico-centric WAPA America cable network has been added to Cox’s Latino Pak in Las Vegas, San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson and its cities in Orange County, Calif. and the Palos Verdes peninsula between Torrance and Long Beach, Calif.

“We are thrilled to expand our long-standing partnership with Cox, which now carries all of Hemisphere’s networks,” Hemisphere president Alan J. Sokol said in a statement. “Pasiones is the leading television destination for Hispanic women, and WAPA America is the only network that caters specifically to Caribbean Hispanics—the second-largest and fastest-growing Hispanic group in the country. These launches reinforce Cox’s commitment to serving the Hispanic community with the highest-quality Spanish-language programming, and we are confident that these additions will help drive new subscriptions.”

Hemisphere Media Group-owned WAPA América and Cinelatino have revealed their respective programming plans for 2016-17, becoming new entrants in a shrinking pool of Hispanic-focused upfront presenters.

Executives from the cable networks shared what's in store for both — including Cinelatino’s four telefilms from the producers of the popular El Señor de los Cielos and a new branding effort for WAPA America — at a June 9 advertiser presentation in midtown Manhattan.

Among the highlights: Top Mexican production company Argos Comunicaciones, creator of popular Telemundo “super series” El Señor de los Cielos, has agreed to co-produce four exclusive, original multiscreen films with Cinelatino. The first two movies will be directed by Cielos director Walter Doehner.

“Argos is the hottest company in Spanish-language creative right now and they consistently deliver high-quality, highly-rated programs,” Hemispere vice chairman Jim McNamara said during a panel discussion hosted by executive vice president of client partnerships Lucia Ballas-Traynor. “We look forward to the opportunity to integrate our clients — from script development and product placement to organic integrations in exclusive digital extensions of the films.”

Cinelatino also announced two major projects centered on the “narco” culture — including a comedy. A first for the genre, the “narco-romantic” comedy Cuernito Armani, inspired by a “narco-corrido” narrative song by Mexican banda genre artist El Komander, is set to air on the network this fall.

Cinelatino also has plans to coproduce a five-part series based on the life of “El Cholo,” the right-hand man and key hitman for the world’s most notorious drug lord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Additionally, Cinelatino will serve as the first U.S.-based network to air the film ¿Que Le Dijiste a Dios? (What Did You Say to God?), featuring the greatest hits of famed Latin pop balladeer Juan Gabriel. It will air a karaoke version of the movie, allowing Gabriel's fans to sing along.

WAPA America's big news was that it has secured the latest Turkish telenovela to be dubbed into Spanish and telecast for U.S. Hispanic audiences: Sila. No premiere date has yet been set for the series, which “has all of the elements that viewers want in a novela: love triangles, family drama, ultimate betrayal and shocking twists," WAPA Television president Jose E. Ramos said during the panel discussion.

WAPA America is also banking on its Puerto Rican brand heritage and familiarity with stateside Boricuas by launching an on-air branding campaign with the motto, “Mi Isla, Mi Orgullo” (My Island, My Pride). While the network is targeted to all Hispanics who consume Spanish-language media, the campaign consists of 60-second sponsor-friendly vignettes spotlighting the contributions of notable Puerto Ricans on both the island and U.S. mainland, including chefs, artists, actors, comedians and sports figures.

The campaign will also invite users to submit their own short-form content online demonstrating their pride, and the vignettes will live on social media and at online portal WAPA.tv.

A decade after its stateside launch, Spanish-language pay TV network WAPA América is now Nielsen-rated.

The Hemisphere Media Group subsidiary in August reached an agreement with Nielsen, which results in WAPA América immediately being reported in the ratings agency’s national data. The first ratings results available to the public are set to arrive on Sept. 28.

“We’ve been analyzing preliminary Nielsen data for several months and we are very excited with the findings, which confirm that WAPA América has a large and loyal audience,” Hemisphere president Alan J. Sokol said.

Nick Valls, who oversees national ad sales for WAPA América, added: “We know WAPA América appeals to the 10 million Puerto Ricans and Caribbean Hispanics living the U.S., but now we’ll have the data to back it up. WAPA América offers a unique and highly-valuable proposition to national advertisers who want to get their messages in front of the second largest Hispanic community in the U.S. in content uniquely aligned to its culture and interests.”

WAPA América is seen in more than 5 million homes and is distributed via cable television, satellite TV and telco providers. Programming is focused on news and entertainment programming originating from WAPA’s Guaynabo, Puerto Rico studios, in addition to Puerto Rico-centric films, telenovelas and sports such as Puerto Rican league basketball.

Meanwhile, Hemisphere-owned Spanish-language pay TV movie channel Cinelatino is commemorating Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15) with a slate of films ranging from highly anticipated blockbuster premieres to Dia de la Raza-themed movies set for Oct. 12.

Cinelatino will kick off the celebration on Sept. 15 with a two-day marathon of Mexican box office hits to coincide with Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16. The lineup of films includes Morelos, a historical drama about the final years of the leader of the Mexican independence; Suave Patria, a comedy about two unemployed actors who stage a fake kidnapping; La Cebra, featuring two friends who travel to northern Mexico to enlist in Obregon’s army on a zebra, mistaking it for an “American horse;” and Salvando al Soldado Pérez, a black comedy about Mexican organized crime.