We have been writing a lot about the Latino market opportunity in the United States in this blog, but we can’t help but comment on the major shifts in the general attitude towards the Spanish language fueled by business initiatives and not by legislation — unlike bilingual countries like Canada that mandate two-language media.

ABC — one of the big four television networks in the U.S. — announced that it will make all of its prime time entertainment programs, including hits Lost and Desperate Housewives, available in Spanish starting this season through SAP (Secondary Audio Program) and close captioning. ABC (owned by Disney) will join other U.S. media outlets that target Latino Spanish viewers, including dedicated Spanish-only channels like Univisión (owned by NBC), Telemundo, and Futura. They also have access to HBO Latino, which airs HBO’s live programming in Spanish.

The cost of providing programming in Spanish is very small compared to the cost of producing the original material. Most programs already air in Latin American TV channels shortly after their launch in the United States. What ABC is doing is bringing the concept of simultaneous shipment that is so well-known in software localization to the entertainment world.

This is good news for SDI Media, JBI Localization, and other language service providers in the dubbing and subtitling world — especially if other mainstream networks and local media outlets follow the leaders. Spanish today, other ethnic sub-programming tomorrow?