Case study · Entertainment and media
News Network: Subtitling a Documentary Series for International Release
We subtitled a six-episode documentary series into Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, built to the platform’s timed-text specification and delivered a week before the international release.
Who they are: A major U.S. news network producing original documentary programming for television and streaming.
The challenge
The network was preparing a six-episode documentary series, each episode about 22 minutes long, for a total runtime of 132 minutes, for a coordinated international release on September 11, 2026. Every episode needed Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles and localized episode descriptions.
The streaming platform’s timed-text specification required UTF-8 WebVTT files, timing matched to the 23.976 fps final video, a maximum of two lines and 42 characters per line, and a reading speed of no more than 17 characters per second.
The solution
- Subtitle translation: Linguists experienced in news and documentary content translated each episode into Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, keeping names, places, and terminology consistent across the series.
- Timing: Subtitles were timed to the 23.976 fps final video and built to the platform’s WebVTT specification, line limits, and reading speed.
- Quality review: A second linguist reviewed every file against the picture, followed by a technical check of timing, line length, reading speed, and file validity.
- Localized metadata: Episode descriptions were localized for Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking audiences.
The results
- Ready for release: Final files were delivered on September 4, 2026, a week before the coordinated international release on September 11.
- No rejections: Every file passed the platform’s automated format checks and editorial review, with acceptance recorded in its vendor portal.
- Follow-on work: The platform assigned two additional episodes.
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