ABC to offer shows in Spanish

"We wanted to move beyond toe-dipping and really dive in," ABC entertainment chief Stephen McPherson said in a statement. "Almost half of the 41 million Hispanics in this country watch only or mostly Spanish-language television, and we want to bring that audience to ABC."

ABC, using both dubbing and closed captioning, will be the first of the major English-language broadcasters to provide its full primetime entertainment lineup in Spanish. Most other networks offer few shows in the language.

The cost is "not inexpensive," McPherson said in an interview Thursday, declining to provide a specific figure. But he said there could be a big return in terms of viewership.

"If you look at the performance of Spanish-language stations in a lot of the big (TV) markets, they're doing very well. In some markets they're beating the broadcast networks," he said.

Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority in the United States and represent one-seventh of the population, according to a recent Census Bureau report.

"Desperate Housewives," "Lost," "George Lopez" and the new comedy "Freddie," starring Freddie Prinze Jr., will be dubbed into Spanish, as will the network's theatrical movie premieres and some specials.

Casting has begun for actors to voice the Spanish dialogue. The production timing for series will be tight because TV typically is created at "light speed," McPherson said.

The rest of ABC's primetime entertainment schedule, which debuts next week as the 2005-06 season officially begins, will be available with closed-captioned subtitles in Spanish, the network said.

Subtitled versions are on Closed Caption 3 channel (CC3), with the dubbed versions accessible through the SAP - secondary audio program - TV option. Most U.S. households have TV sets with SAP capability, ABC said.

SAP has other uses, such as providing program descriptions for visually impaired viewers. Such services will be unaffected by the introduction of Spanish-language shows on SAP, McPherson said.

In test screenings, the network found viewers receptive to ABC's programs in Spanish. Many were unfamiliar with "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," among last year's hottest new series.

"A lot of people had not seen the shows because they were not English speaking but were TV watchers, and were enthralled with them and wanted more," McPherson said.

Whether or not the addition of Spanish-language versions immediately affect Nielsen ratings is not a concern, he said.

"It's more to get it out there and get a large audience watching it and I think the overall ratings will follow," he said.

ABC previously had aired major films in Spanish through SAP. This year, the network premieres scheduled to air with dubbing include "Catch Me if You Can," "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Finding Nemo."

"Have No Fear: the Life of John Paul II," a made-for-TV movie, also will be dubbed into Spanish.