The Economist: Why Turkish TV Series are Watched?

The Economist, a British-based weekly magazine, wrote that Türkiye is now the biggest exporter of TV series after the US and Britain. According to the magazine, there are 9 reasons why Turkish TV series are watched.

“Magnificient Century was first aired in 2011 and was part of the first wave of Turkish TV series to go global,” says The Economist. According to the magazine, the new favourite is Çağatay Ulusoy’s new series Gaddar.

After sharing the figures about the great interest in Turkish TV series in the world, the magazine also shares its own interpretations about the reasons for this interest.

Some of the data in the Economist are as follows:

• Türkiye is now the world’s third largest exporter of scripted series, behind the US and the UK.

• According to Parrot Analytics, a data firm, global demand for Turkish scripted series increased by 184 per cent between 2020 and 2023, compared to 73 per cent for Korean scripted series.

• Turkish dramas are popular not only in the Middle East but also in Europe and Latin America.

• The top three importers of new Turkish dramas last year were Spain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

• The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce estimates that Türkiye’s television exports earned $600 million in 2022; some analysts predict that sales will soon reach billions.

• According to the British magazine, Turkish TV series contribute to strengthening the image of Türkiye, especially in the former Ottoman lands.

According to Parrot Analytics, in May 2020, when a large part of the world’s population was in lockdown due to Covid-19, the Diriliş Ertuğrul series was the fourth most in-demand series worldwide. The Urdu dub of the pilot episode reached 153 million views on YouTube.

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THE ECONOMIST: WHY ARE THESE SERIES WATCHED SO MUCH?

In its article, The Economist also tried to find the reason why Turkish TV series are watched so much. According to the magazine, some possible reasons are summarised under the following headings:

1 THEY APPEAL TO THE EYE

“What makes these series so worth watching? Firstly, they appeal to the eye. According to the magazine, Turkish dramas have glamorous landscapes, luxurious costumes and handsome actors.” According to the magazine, some of the series blend romance and revenge. The Economist reminds that the series Family Secrets won the international Emmy award for Best Telenovela in 2023.

2 ARAB VIEWERS APPRECIATE IT

According to the magazine: “Arab viewers appreciate the way Turkish TV series portray Muslims as heroes, not as terrorists or taxi drivers as Hollywood often does.”

3 PROHIBITED CONTENT AND EARLY BIRD EXAMPLE

“Censorship forces directors to be creative and can even increase sexual tension for viewers,” the magazine said, noting that alcoholic drinks in TV series are blurred and sex scenes are banned. Giving the example of the series Erkenci Kuş, the magazine stated that “longing looks and long touches replaced unnecessary lovemaking scenes”.

4 HEROES BASED ON TURKISH TV SERIES

“American romance novelists are also taking examples from Türkiye. Abby Jimenez, author of the New York Times bestselling novel ‘Yours Truly’, based her male protagonist on a character from the TV series You Knock on My Door.”

5 THEY WELCOME A BREAK FROM SEX AND BRUTALITY

“According to Glance, a television data firm, the three most popular scripted series in Spain in the first half of 2023 were Turkish soap operas. Spaniards and Latin Americans have a history of watching soap operas,” the Economist said. Some viewers also “seem to welcome a break from the sex and brutality of Western television,” according to the magazine.

6 HIGH PRODUCTION

According to the magazine, Spanish-speaking audiences are attracted to the high production value of Turkish soap operas. Soap operas in Latin America “look cheap”, says a soap opera supplier. Carolina Acosta-Alzuru of the University of Georgia noted that “people in Türkiye and Latin America express their feelings without shame, so melodrama works in both cultures.”

7 SUITABLE FOR DIVIDING AND DISMEMBERING

According to the Economist, Turkish TV series are also very useful for programmers. In Türkiye, series are aired once a week and can last up to three hours. However, when they are sold to foreign countries, they can be divided into more episodes and aired more frequently, sometimes daily. Television channels can spread the series over hundreds of episodes. While Korean dramas last only 13 commercial hours, Turkish dramas can last up to 200 hours.

8 LANGUAGES, DUBBING FACILITIES

According to the magazine’s analysis, some viewers complain that they cannot find enough content in their own language. Dubbing Turkish TV series in Spanish is not difficult because a single version can be distributed throughout Spain and much of Latin America.

For languages with fewer speakers, such as Polish or Greek, TV channels resort to cheaper solutions such as subtitling. Some people are even trying to learn Turkish in order to watch the series. Fans of the series dubbed for each other on social media.

9 DIGITAL PLATFORMS

According to the magazine, in addition to traditional broadcasting, series produced for digital platforms also attract great interest. At this point, the magazine gave the Club series as an example and emphasised that digital platforms are producing bolder series.