ZDF Studios and international media development company Castalia Communications Corporation announced the launch of 'Crimen ZDF,' a FAST channel for Spanish-speaking audiences in the United States and Latin America. Crimen ZDF will feature the finest procedural crime, thriller, and mystery series from Europe and is available on Samsung TV Plus Mexico.
"We are delighted to be able to offer our most successful European procedural dramas on a FAST channel to audiences across the Americas, and for the first time, dubbed into Latin American Spanish.,” said Susanne Frank, Director Drama, ZDF Studios, adding that the new channel “is a product of a partnership with Castalia Communications,” a U.S.-based company with a long history of content distribution in the region.
“We have selected captivating and iconic series full of intrigue, of course all filmed in a European settings and authentic atmosphere, different than the usual offerings in the U.S. and Latin America,” said Luis Torres-Bohl, president of Castalia Communications. “The channel will attract viewers who are already familiar with European content and are hungrier than ever to enjoy this programming now in their own language, as well as new viewers who are seeking similar premium content,” he added.
The partnership between ZDF Studios and Castalia Communications to develop this FAST service was first announced in October 2023. The venture makes quality programming from the ZDF Studios catalogue available to Spanish-speaking end-users in the Hispanic market in the U.S. and Latin America.
The quality of the content that viewers expect includes high quality in-language dubbing. This is why Caaliope, one of the leaders in Spanish language dubbing and subtitling, was chosen to dub all of the channel's content. "In-language dialogue is a key component of the viewer experience and having it in Latin American Spanish enhances the quality of the content," said Carlos Sánchez, CEO of Caaliope.
The channel will have a total of 300 hours of content available, with an initial package of 190 hours, including the acclaimed series “The Crimson Rivers,” about complex murder case solved by a detective and his best student, based on the best-selling French novel written by Jean-Christophe Grangé; “The Bridge,” an original award-winning Danish-Swedish crime series with several international adaptations; “SOKO,” a popular and current show in Germany that follows the investigations of Special Crime Units (SOKO) across the country; and “The Old Fox,” a long-running German series that is still very popular today about a chief inspector who leads his team through the dark underbelly of crime to unravel murder mysteries.