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More Disney surprises with the announcement that Disney-ABC and Univision will be partnering on the U.S. Hispanic version of Desperate Housewives. Yes…it will be coming to Univision affiliates near you next season. Production is said to begin in July in Argentina by Pol-ka Produtions in Buenos Aires and will be titled “Amas de Casa Desesperadas” and are expected to cast the remake with high-profile Latin American and U.S. Hispanic actors. Wisteria Lane will never be the same…that I know.

This move, I believe, is promoted by the increasing pressure on Univision to free itself from the Televisa content-addiction. Much like the U.S.’s dependency on foreign oil, tensions between the two broadcasting giants came to a head last summer when Televisa lost its bid to purchase Univision.

In a trial set for October 30^th, Univision could lose access to its primary provider of telenovelas that have helped keep the broadcasting giant on top. Licensing agreement expires in 2017, but Univision’s only other attempt at producing original programming was the ill-fated telenovela “Te amare en silencio,” which former Univision chairman and CEO Jerrold Perenchio produced through his own production company. Can you say Halliburton?

If you remember correctly, Telemundo experimented with remakes of Sony Pictures Television shows like “Charlie’s Angels” or “Angeles” a few years ago, and failed miserably. But those behind “Amas” are confident their experience will be different and I think if done right, they will be wildly successful.

“We are tapping a current TV phenomenon, which is among the top series in 200 countries worldwide,” said Diego Lerner, Disney Latin America proxy. Partners will be adhering closely to the original storylines, with just a few tweaks to account for cultural differences.

When I was at Disney, there were abundant rumors of a possible Disney-Univision relationship much like the one Disney had with ABC back in the day. With the amount of integration between NBC, Telemundo and Universal Studios doesn’t Univision seem like a natural next step for Disney? I believe as Disney becomes less culturally insecure, we will see a move for Univision. This is my conspiracy theory anyway. Only time will tell.

Housewives Invades LatAm

Indie is prepping season two of the Argentine version of “Housewives” after a successful first season on Artear TV, and is shooting the Brazilian version on a purpose-built set. Pol-ka has also finished producing season one of a combined Colombian/Ecuadorian version to air in May on Teleamazonas Ecuador and in the summer on RCN Colombia.

- Written by Miamiadguy