Cbs Will Offer Spanish Simulcast Of ‘Four Corners’

CBS will make history of sorts on Tuesday when it debuts its new drama “Four Corners.” It will come with a Spanish simulcast.

While other networks have offered sports and occasional specials with a second-audio feed for Spanish-speaking audiences, this is believed to be the first time that a network has offered a prime-time series with the enhancement.

“There’s a lot of markets we can really benefit by trying to do something like this,” said Kelly Kahl, vice president of scheduling and program planning for CBS. “In a sense, we’re looking to the future.”

“Four Corners” is an hourlong drama starring Ann-Margret and Sonia Braga. The show is a saga about two families in a growing Southwestern community where old-fashioned values are at odds with changing times.

According to Kahl, the show is likely to be of interest to people of Hispanic descent living throughout the United States. Moreover, one of the families portrayed in the program has Hispanic origins.

“It’s not inexpensive,” he said. “I think we’re looking at it as an investment.”

The Spanish-language version can be seen by using the second audio program (SAP) function that is on most new televisions and VCRs.

CBS is offering the Spanish-dubbed version to all of its affiliates, though not each will distribute it to their viewers.

“If the results are positive and we see a benefit in doing it, we might do it again in the future,” said Kahl. “As we’re all searching for more and more viewers, this is the kind of thing we as networks should look at doing.”