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'Narcos' season 1 to air on Univision; season 2 to hit the screens in August

Zarah Ariola Saturday, May 21, 2016

Wagner Moura as Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in "Narcos" | Netflix

The streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) platform Netflix has cut a deal with broadcast television network Univision to air the first season of the original Netflix crime thriller "Narcos."

Meanwhile, "Narcos" season 2, wherein the show's manner of presentation and narration will be tweaked according to co-executive producer Eric Newman, is set to premiere in August. And even this early, a potential storyline of season 3 is already being explored.

Randy Falco, president and CEO of Univision Communications, Inc., expressed happiness to be working with Netflix. He said, "No other media company understands Hispanic American audiences like Univision and this promotional partnership speaks to our ability to reach and engage our growth consumer with unmatched scale and depth."

Ted Sarandos, chief content officer of Netflix, added: "'Narcos' is a huge global success on Netflix and sampling the series to every single Spanish-speaking living room in the US will give additional viewers the opportunity to fall in love with its unique storytelling." He also said that the promotion of a Netflix original on Univision is a great way to further reach Hispanic audiences and help them discover the SVOD giant.

The first season, which had its exclusive first airing on Netflix, noticeably had a lot of narration and voiceover because of the need to extensively recount and explain the life of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura). A significant amount of narration was deemed important in order for the viewers to not get lost in the story. This will change in the next season according to Newman since a good premise for the story was established in season 1. The upcoming season will be more character-driven.

While in production of season 2, Newman and fellow executive producer Jose Padilha are already exploring ways to go forward with the series beyond Escobar's story. Newman previously divulged that Escobar will be killed in season 2 to keep things "true to real-time events."