Following its expansive coverage of the FIFA World Cup, the global event that made up so much of Telemundo’s programming for the early summer, the network has premiered two new series to fill the void: Exatlón and Falco. It’s no secret how large a role sports play in Hispanic culture, in addition to music, food and family. Much of Telemundo’s programming focuses on those things, but its newest reality series focuses solely on sports.
Exatlón is a new sports-reality series telecast Monday-Friday and Sunday nights that pits a team comprised of ten Olympic medalists and celebrity athletes against a team of amateur athletes. The teams consist of five men and five women facing different athletic challenges each day. It’s during the Sunday elimination episode that the stakes are the highest, as the lowest performing contestant is pitted against someone from their own team. The two face off for the chance to continue and get closer to the $200,000 grand prize, while the defeated person goes home empty-handed. In addition to the grueling challenges, competitors are also living in extreme conditions on an island, isolated from everyone but each other.