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CNN Live Sunday

"The Bold and the Beautiful" Are Speaking Spanish

Aired May 27, 2001 - 16:14   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Back in the United States, some in Hollywood want to heat daytime drama in Spanish. "The Bold and the Beautiful" is the first American soap opera to offer its steamy story lines en Espanol.

CNN's Hena Cuevas explains why it faces hot competition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DARLENE CONLEY, ACTRESS: What is wrong with my television set?

HENA CUEVAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sally Spectra, the prime dame of the daytime drama "The Bold and the Beautiful," will soon be speaking Spanish. The 15-year-old soap is the first daytime drama to provide Spanish language translation using the secondary audio program, SAP, a feature on newer TV sets which lets viewers listen to the show in another language.

(on camera): Once the show is shot and edited, it comes to this dubbing studio, where voice actors chosen to match the real characters on the show bring their Spanish counterparts to life.

(voice-over): It's a move designed to attract the growing number of Spanish-speaking viewers in the U.S.

LUCY JOHNSON, CBS DAYTIME PROGRAMMING: We are entering a new place, and maybe there's -- well, I believe there is room for all of us, and somebody will just maybe have to move over little bit.

CUEVAS: That somebody are the Spanish language soaps, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) novelas, broadcast by the two largest Spanish language television networks in the U.S., Univision and Telemundo.

Novellas, which usually last less than a year, are Latin America's TV equivalent to romance novels, with a definite beginning and end. They're a critical part of the Spanish language networks' prime time line-up, bringing in more than 50 percent of their total revenue. So, how do they feel about soaps en Espanol?

JAMES MCNAMARA, CEO, TELEMUNDO: It's a noble effort, and at the end of the day, I don't believe the mainstream Hispanic audience is going to tune in in large numbers.

CUEVAS: McNamara says it's more than just language. For their loyal followers, novelas are a part of life itself.

MCNAMARA: We like to think of it as novellas being part of the genetic DNA of the Latino.

CUEVAS: CBS is aware of this, so they've added a new Hispanic storyline and characters. Hot, just like the battle to being waged in America's living rooming.

Hena Cuevas, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KELLEY: A little side note here: The name of the show is Spanish is "Belleza y Poder," and that translates literally into "The Beautiful & Powerful."

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