TV & VIDEO - Jan. 27, 1989

HBO’s and Cinemax’s plans for Spanish-English movie simulcasting got off the ground sooner than expected. The dual-language presentations were to be tested this month on two Los Angeles-based systems, Liberty Cable and American Cable. Then an ad campaign would follow to sell the service nationwide in March. But cable operators didn’t want to wait and asked to have the service now. So, 25 cable systems in seven cities are already simulcasting movies, and another 35 systems have requested the service. HBO has simulcast “Dragnet” and “Ishtar,” among others, and Cinemax is airing “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”