Hours before its Upfront presentation, Telemundo announced it will try to fill the void soon to be left by the cancellation of Univision’s “Sábado Gigante.”
The #2 Spanish-language network will launch “La Sorpresa de Tu Vida” (The Surprise of Your Life), a weekly two-hour, family-oriented Saturday night show that will help contestants’ “dreams come true.”
Hosted by singer/actress Mexican Angélica Vale and Venezuelan TV personality Raúl González – both former Univision talents – “La Sorpresa de Tu Vida” will be taped in front of a studio audience in Miami and will feature special guests and celebrities.
“We identified an opportunity on Saturday nights a while ago and took our time to develop the right concept and identify the right talent,” said Luis Silberwasser, President, Telemundo Network in a statement. “Angélica and Raúl are the perfect hosts for this modern, interactive format that will appeal to the whole Hispanic family.”
This will be Angélica’s debut on Telemundo. The actress, who has starred in a series of Televisa telenovelas, films and television shows, also had a stint on Univision’s “Despierta América.” That’s where she met her soon to be co-host Raúl, who after 13 years, left his gig on the #1 Spanish-language morning show last year to join Telemundo.
With this variety show, Telemundo hopes to attract a multi-generational family audience, a feat that may be difficult to achieve, given that Latino millenials prefer to consume English-language and video streaming content.
“Sábado Gigante” has been facing the same challenge in recent years. Despite its popularity, the show helmed by Mario Kreutzberger, aka “Don Francisco”, has steadily lost younger viewers.
The show will replace Telemundo’s Saturday night movie. No exact air date has been announced.