'Must Si' for NBC soaps

Sudsers get Spanish translation to 'broaden appeal'

By PAULA BERNSTEIN

NBC Daytime will broadcast its sudsers "Days of Our Lives" and "Passions" with a closed-captioned Spanish translation beginning July 9.

Closed-captioning feature, available on all NBC affils, will continue throughout the summer and, if successful, could become a regular feature.

In an effort to woo Hispanic viewers, "Passions" will feature guest appearances by TV talkshow host Cristina Saralegui ("The Cristina Show") and veteran actor Emiliano Diez in nine episodes beginning July 11.

The closed-captioning will allow viewers to see scrolled text of the actor's English dialogue translated into Spanish at the bottom of their screens.

"The Spanish closed-captioning will broaden our shows' appeal, making them more accessible to the sizable and growing Hispanic audience," said NBC Daytime senior VP Sheraton Kalouria.

The Peacock isn't the only net to recognize the burgeoning Hispanic audience for soaps. CBS began offering a Spanish-lingo audio feed for "The Bold and the Beautiful" in May.