Inter Medya’s Can Okan

Can Okan, the founder and CEO of Inter Medya, talks to TV Formats about the company’s format business.

Since making its foray into the format arena just a short while ago, Inter Medya has been hard at work coming up with innovative ideas that can travel. One of its first titles out of the gate, Join Instant, was recently optioned in India and Pakistan. While game shows were a strong point of entry, Inter Medya, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, is exploring a range of other entertainment- and reality-focused format genres.

***Image***TV FORMATS: What led Inter Medya to enter the format business?
OKAN: The decision to enter the format business was part of our plan back in 2010. We had prepared a long-term plan to determine Inter Medya’s structure and target. Our most important aim was the distribution of Turkish drama series and feature films, which has been our core business since 2008. Our second goal was to expand our product range even more. Since formats are a new and still undefined area with huge potential in Turkey, we decided to create a format department to not only develop and distribute formats but also produce them in Turkey and its surrounding territories. This year, in planning our 25th anniversary, we polished our company structure even more by launching new sub-brands: distribution, creation, production, post-production, digital and animation.

TV FORMATS: Why did you choose game shows as the first genre to focus on?
OKAN: Since Turkey has a lot of creative potential in this genre, our format catalog does include many game shows. Of course, audience trends in Turkey and around the world were also a big factor in that decision. Now, we are trying to diversify our catalog by adding reality shows, dating shows, cooking formats, and action and adventure formats, among other genres.

TV FORMATS: Which formats have been performing well from the initial slate?
OKAN: Join Instant is definitely one of our most attractive formats. An online interactive quiz show, Join Instant uses a second-screen technology that provides live participants the chance to win as much as those who join the show’s online portal through the internet. First broadcast on TGRT Europe, it has now been licensed to India and Pakistan, two very important territories.

Join Instant, which I already told you about, and The Box Challenge have been our most successful game shows so far. We are working on several new formats, not only by ourselves but also with our partners at Grupo Secuoya.

TV FORMATS: What are your goals for the company’s format business as you look ahead?
OKAN: We would like to expand our catalog even more by developing and adding new formats as often as possible. We are very happy that some formats developed by our own creative team have already found a place in the world, and we would like to increase sales globally.