The celebration kicked off with the launch of a brand new telenovela Broken Angel, which features real life sweethearts and Telemundo favourites Carlos Ponce and Ximena Duque along with Gaby Espino and Aaron Diaz.

Telemundo was the fifth channel brand from Universal Networks International, the international channels division of NBC Universal, to launch in Africa, alongside Universal Channel, Studio Universal, E! Entertainment and The Style Network.

Colin McLeod, managing director, Emerging Markets, Universal Networks International, commented: “We have been absolutely blown away by the response to Telemundo throughout Africa, particularly from the successful launch down to 365 days later, with a Facebook fan base of over 60 000. The channel’s performance has gone from strength to strength as Telemundo’s gripping, exclusive content resonates with the viewers at large. The fans’ interaction across social media has been phenomenal and the media feedback has also been very enthusiastic so we’re confident that Telemundo will continue to attract more viewers who want to feel the passion.”

Telemundo launched in 2013 with four telenovelas, namely: Aurora, My Heart Beats for Lola (which became Telemundo’s most popular telenovela locally), Behind Closed Doors and Precious Rose. In 2014, Telemundo brought viewers more top rating telenovelas from the US including Labour of Love, The Queen of the South and Someone’s Watching.

Since the channel’s launch, a number of high profile Telemundo talent from as far afield as Mexico, Columbia and the US visited the African content including Angelica Celaya, Aylin Mujica, Catherine Siachoque, Rafael Amaya, David Chocarro, Jorge Luis Pila, Ana Layevska, Fabian Rios, Ximena Duque and Carlos Ponce.

Undoubtedly fans across Africa will continue to feel Telemundo’s passion for many months to come with great new telenovelas playing out on the small screen at the moment, like the gripping thriller Someone’s Watching, the eerie love story of Elena’s Ghost and the tale of two empowered female bodyguards in Fearless Heart. The last premiere of 2014 will be Where Is Elisa that launches in October.