ABC's "Desperately" Smart Dubs
ABC Television can't seem to churn out Spanish-language dubs for its hit prime-time series "Desperate Housewives" fast enough. Last summer, ABC decided to become the first old-line network to make its entire prime-time lineup bilingual, with four of ABC's shows dubbed into Spanish each week.
A front-page article in last week's Wall Street Journal cited that ABC and its sister studio, Touchstone, face some real challenges when translating slang-heavy series like "Housewives." To make matters more complicated, the casting for dubbing roles is also a time-consuming process, because it requires that the talent be able to convey body language through their voice.
Most networks wouldn't bother to provide Spanish-language versions, but ABC is onto something. According to the Census Bureau, the Hispanic population for the U.S. was 35 million in 2000 or 13 percent of the total population. The Bureau estimates that the nation's Hispanic population will reach 48 million by 2010. And ABC is also paying attention to Univisión, the nation's number one Spanish-language broadcaster, which saw ad commitments rise 15 percent last year to $850 million in the midst of a flat market.
Now that's smart TV.
