Video Age International October 2015

22 October 2015 V I D E O A G E Turkey TV Report prosperity, and MIPCOM’s Country of Honor status can be seen as evidence. A country with a dual currency system, Turkey is at ease with both the euro and the local lira, reflecting its geographical position between Europe and Asia. Twomillioneurohavebeenspentby twoTurkish ministries (Culture and Economy) through the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) to stage the honor in Cannes. This is in addition to what individual Turkish companies spent to provide market bags, hostess T-shirts, luncheons, parties and red carpet events for about 15 stars of their TV series. But the Turks have gone further than previous MIPCOM Country of Honor honorees such as Argentina and Mexico: they formed a committee of 13 TV companies comprised of broadcasters, producers and content distributors, plus academics and representatives from the ITO, who piloted the Country of Honor events in order to assure immediate and long-lasting effects and help Turkey solidify its status as the bold newcomer among large TV content exporters such as the U.S., Canada, U.K., Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil. Curiously missing from the ITO’s Country of Honor committee was Saran Media, a powerful began broadcasting foreign TV series in 1974. Before the introduction of private television, Turkey was known for its vibrant film industry. In the 1960s it became the world’s fifth largest film producing country, with about 300 films being made per year. It was during this period, in 1967, that the Okan family founded Fono Film, a film post-production facility, which Can Okan, one of the founder’s sons, spinned off as ITV Inter Medya in 1992. His brother Cemal Okan now owns Fono Film. That period saw the creation of a succession of private TV networks such as Show TV in 1992, Kanal D, ATV, TGRT (now FOX), in 1993 and the latecomer Kanal 7 in 1994. Today, there are 678 TV channels that broadcast locally, regionally and nationally: 25 nationally, 16 regionally, 205 locally, and 432 by subscription. It is estimated that by the end of 2015, the domestic TV advertising market will reach over $1 billion. However, it took an additional eight years before the first Turkish TV series, Deli Yürek ( Wild Heart ), produced for Show TV, could be sold internationally by Calinos Entertainment. Their first sale was to Kazakhstan in 2001, followed by Egypt, then Pakistan, Russia and the Balkans. Calinos was founded in Los Angeles in 1997 by current owner, Firat Gulgen as a domestic TV distributor of U.S. films in Turkey, but two years later moved its headquarters to Istanbul. Firat’s father, Melih, produced and directed 14 Turkish theatrical movies, including the popular Tatar Ramazan . The business models for the distribution of Turkish TV series have three variations: In the first case, distribution fees, varying from 10 to 15 percent, come from the producer’s end. In the second version, the distributor’s cut is equally shared between the broadcaster and the producer. In the third scenario, when TRT distributes internationally, the revenue sharing is 50-50, without distribution fees. However, distributors do not charge marketing and other distribution costs to the producers, even though this model will soon change, with producers absorbing some of the marketing costs. In the early years, producers kept all rights, Turkish media company founded in 1995 by American-born Steven Sadettin Saran, and run by his brother Alan Kenan Saran. The reason given is that Saran Media is mainly involved with importing content into Turkey and not in the export of Turkish TV product. Indeed, Saran is the Turkish distributor for Warner Bros. and they hold the rights of some major international sporting events for Turkey. It is estimated that in 2015, considering all the territories covered, Turkish distributors sold 135,000 cumulative TV drama hours to 75 countries, generating some U.S. $300 million. TRT, the state’s broadcast organization, has committed to sponsoring the October 5 opening party ceremony to the tune of an estimated 125,000 euro. Early in the day, commercial network ATV will sponsor the welcoming luncheon at the Carlton Hotel, and on Tuesday night, international distributor ITV Inter Medya will be hosting the second Turkey-themed party. ITV will also be providing the T-shirts that MIPCOM hostesses will be wearing, while commercial network Kanal D will sponsor the market bags that promise to be of lasting usefulness to all market participants. On the third day, distribution company Global Media will organize what can be considered Turkey’s closing event party. (Global Agency’s Izzet Pinto was traveling during VideoAge ’s Turkish tour, missing the interview for this report). Companies that are not assigned specific events will contribute by participating at seminars and bringing stars, even though this aspect is going to be tricky since distributors and networks won’t know in advance who will be able to leave their respective productions. Furthermore, Turkey’s TV stars are generally content with their domestic status and most of them don’t seek fame outside their market. Turkey has had a dynamic TV market since Star Network introduced private television in 1989, 21 years after state broadcaster TRT started nationwide TV transmission. At that time, the market was mainly known for importing foreign TV programs handled by several local distribution companies, such as ITV Inter Medya. Prior to Star, the only international buyer was TRT, which (Continued from Cover) ITV Inter Medya sales and marketing team, headed by Can Okan and Ahmet Ziyalar TRT’s Mehmet Demirhan Kanal D is sponsoring special MIPCOM backpacks this year (Continued on Page 26)