For the first time, ABC's entire prime time lineup will also be available in Spanish starting with the start of the fall season Sept. 19. ABC says it will be the first English-language network to deliver all its prime in Spanish.
Hit dramas Desperate Housewives and Lost will be dubbed in Spanish, and new sitcom Freddie (joining George Lopez, which has been dubbed since it launched in 2001), with the rest of the shows closed-captioned.
“We wanted to move beyond toe-dipping and really dive in,” said Mr. McPherson. “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.”
Toe-dipping has constituted Lopez, theatricals, and last year's Oscars.
The network will likely migrate more of the closed-captioned shows to dubbing.
The net is said to have tested Desperate Housewives and Lost with predominately Spanish-speaking audiences in L. A. and Miami, where they tested through the roof. Both are big hits internationally as well as domestically.
