“Yesterday, I found out I was pregnant…actually, in the same day they told me I had cancer and then I didn’t, I was pregnant,” says Blanca Soto, a Telenovela star of her character Camila Nájera de Negrete on “El Talismán” (aka: The Talisman). If that plot twist sounds familiar to you, it’s because that’s generally the storyline twists and turns we’ve come to expect on American daytime soap operas. The only difference is more viewers are tuning into Telenovelas on networks such as Univision and Telemundo than they are on ABC, CBS, or NBC, who are consistently losing viewers in record numbers. In a new report by ABC News, “Nightline” reporter Matt Gutman explores how telenovelas are thriving while American soaps are struggling to survive.
Note: “El Talismán” already completed its 98-episode run on Univision earlier this year. It is not mentioned when this piece was first filmed. ABC News published the report on Thursday, August 16 on ABCNews.com, which preluded its video counterpart during that nights airing of “Nightline.”