Through series like Betty la fea, Lady la vendedora de rosas and El man es Germán, the network found the way to finally debunk Caracol and lead Colombia’s broadcast TV ratings.
About to turn 20 years old and aired in over 180 territories in 25 languages, with 28 adaptations around the world, Colombian telenovela Betty la fea has made history again in Colombia.
RCN decided to pay homage to Fernando Gaitán (who died in January of this year) and premiere his most successful creation once again. And the results were more than positive: it became the highest-rated series in Colombia today.
With ratings that go between 14 and 15 points, Betty leads the ratings’ race every day and surpasses new productions from both RCN and Catacol.
And this isn’t the only classic content RCN has recently premiered again, as it joins the 2015 telenovela Lady, la vendedora de rosas, which ranks among the top 5 most watched contents every day with 8-9 rating points.
Another title joining this trend is the revival of El man es Germán, the classic RCN series that returned this year with the same cast and new episodes. And the results were also positive, as it usually ranks as the seventh most watched series of the day.
In light of this phenomenon, RCN is now premiering another classic title: the talkshow Yo José Gabriel, which stopped airing in 2007 and will mark the return of José Gabriel Ortiz to Colombian TV after 10 years.
As a response, Caracol is reportedly now also seeking to revive old classics, such as its series Padres e hijos, which will premiere on Caracol Play.
A Trend that Spreads in Latin America
While RCN’s case is maybe the most paradigmatic, it’s far from being the only one in the region.
In fact, nostalgia has also translated into success in Argentina, where the format Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? returned this year to great ratings on Telefe. And America revived Polémica en el bar and will do the same with La peluquería de Don Mateo.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? also returned to Chile on Mega, where turkish dramas such as 1001 Nights, Fatmagul and Ezel are airing for the second time as ratings phenomenon.
And finally in Mexico, Televisa is leading the trend through its Fábrica de sueños, under which it will revive multiple classic telenovelas as series.
