'El Capo' Fails On Telemundo? Mauricio Islas Series Loses Prime Spot On Schedule

Telemundo just shook up their primetime telenovelas block and "El Capo" is looking like a big loser. The Mauricio Islas-starring series just premiered 2 weeks ago, but has failed to maintain "El Chema's" audience levels. The Spanish-language network OWNS the 10pm hour with a string of hits and multiple seasons of "El Señor De Los Cielos" and "Señora Acero". Univision has struggled to make a dent on the network for years as Telemundo had delivered solid programming.

Since the premiere of "El Capo" on Telemundo, "La Piloto" on Univision has inched up in the ratings and even winning on some nights. The programmers at Telemundo needed to act swiftly to not loose their edge and ultimately made the decision to make a change and ship "El Capo" to 8pm/7c starting May 2, same day that "La Querida Del Centauro 2" premieres at 10pm/9c. "Guerra De Ídolos," which premieres on April 24 at 8pm, will move to its regular spot at 9pm/8c on April 25 and continue sandwiched between the aforementioned series. The network surely hopes the second season of the Ludwika Paleta and Humberto Zurita series delivers and maintains the timeslot warm for the return of Aurelio Casillas and Season 5 of "El Señor De Los Cielos."

It's obvious that Telemundo was not as pacient with "El Capo" as it was not an in-house production. The series has already aired in its entirety on Imagen TV in México, plus it was an adaptation of a Colombian series that aired on Univision networks for multiple seasons years ago.

"El Capo" follows José Vicente Solís Armenta who has been the most wanted drug trafficker in Central America for the past five years, when journalist Juan Magaña uncovered his identity linked to the illicit business. After having ordered the journalist to be killed "three times" for daring to challenge him, El Capo goes into hiding. Following an established plan, he erases all traces of his life, from the most insignificant details to the most personal ones, such as the identity of his children. His children, as well as María Guadalupe, his beloved wife for thirty years, discover what Jose Vicente is doing when they see the news published in the newspapers; in spite of the moral conflict that this represents, they agree to Jose Vicente’s plan and they begin to live a lie of which they will not be able to escape without paying a high price.