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Univision's parent company is teaming up with Netflix to produce "El Chapo," a drama series based on the life of one of the world's most notorious criminals. It will air on Univision sister network UniMas in 2017, after which it will be available to Netflix subscribers.

The announcement, part of an agreement between Netflix and Univision Communications Inc., was made Tuesday to advertisers during Univision's presentation of its 2016-17 plans for its suite of networks.

New series for the Univision network include:

• "Mujeres de Negro" (Women in Black), a drama about a group of women who hatch a scheme to take control of their lives by killing their husbands, then seeking out new adventures freed from marital bonds.

• "Tres Veces Ana" (The Three Sides of Ana), a drama starring Angelique Boyer playing triplets with very different personalities and three distinct love stories.

• "Vino el Amor" (Then Love Arrived), a telenovela, set in Napa Valley, California, that traces the life of Mexican-Americans seeking not only the American Dream but also success with family and love.

• "40 y 20," a comedy about a divorced 40-year-old dad and his 20-year-old son who live together like bachelors.

• "Super X's," a comedy about two pals, both of whom are slackers — until one of them mysteriously gains supernatural powers.

Univision also said it will partner with Netflix to bring the streaming-video outlet's "Narcos" to broadcast television.

The first season of this acclaimed Netflix series will air on the Univision network, the company announced. In addition, the Netflix series "Club de Cuervos" will air on UniMas.

It will be the first time original Netflix series have aired on broadcast networks in the U.S., Univision said. No airdates were announced, but scheduling will be timed to the premiere of both series' second seasons exclusively on Netflix.

"Narcos" chronicles real-life stories of Colombian drug kingpins of the late 1980s — most notably Pablo Escobar — and the efforts by law enforcement to rein them in.

"Club de Cuervos," which also debuted on Netflix last August, takes an inside look at a family's internal squabble to determine who will control a beloved professional soccer team.

Earlier in the week, rival Spanish-language network Telemundo announced its own series to be based on drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who was arrested in January after almost six months on the run following his escape from a Mexican maximum-security prison through a mile-long tunnel that opened to the floor of his shower.

Although Telemundo, which is owned by NBCUniversal, has long been a distant second in the Spanish-language marketplace, it has recently been closing the gap with Univision, whose prime-time average of 2.06 million viewers this season has slipped 29 percent from the year before, when it drew an average 2.89 million viewers. Meanwhile, Telemundo has enjoyed an uptick, from 1.32 million last year to 1.43 million this year. —

Telemundo outline plans to continue growth

The Spanish-language network Telemundo says it hopes to continue its growth with a non-traditional programming strategy that will include projects based on the story of drug lord El Chapo, the life of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and the late singer Jenni Rivera.

Don Francisco, who hosted Univision's "Sabado Gigante" variety show for 53 years, will headline family-oriented programming on Sunday nights, Telemundo said on Sunday.

Telemundo has long been a distant second in the Spanish-language marketplace but is dramatically closing the gap with Univision, primarily because of the leader's free-fall: Univision's prime-time average of 2.06 million viewers this season is down 29 percent from the year before, the Nielsen company said.

Telemundo's viewership is up — 1.43 million this year compared with 1.32 million last year — but the bulk of the Spanish-language audience that Univision has lost is going digital, to other networks or away from TV altogether.

Executives at NBC Universal-owned Telemundo attribute the network's success to embracing programming forms different from the dominant Spanish-language style of long-running telenovelas. Telemundo is targeting more of a bilingual audience born in the United States, rather than immigrants.

"We have a programming strategy that is dramatically different than the competition," said Luis Silberwasser, Telemundo network president.

Telemundo is cutting back the length of series' from the traditional 120-episode telenovelas and continuing some stories across multiple seasons, more like English-language TV. The programs are shooting more on location than simply in studios. Telemundo is also embracing music-oriented programming, like a series based on the life of Mexican singer Rivera, who died in a plane crash in 2012.

"El Chema" is the upcoming series based on El Chapo, only with an actor dramatically younger and more ruggedly handsome than the real-life drug kingpin. A preview shows a prison escape markedly similar to one pulled off by El Chapo.

Historical series include a fictional tale based on late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's life, one about Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez and another on Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes.

The former "Sabado Gigante" star will host a Sunday night talk show, "Don Francisco Te Invita" ("Don Francisco Invites You"), and is also developing a competition series for children and a game show based on animals.

Telemundo will also premiere a Sunday night newsmagazine with investigative reporting.

— David Bauder, The Associated Press