Turkish Companies Lead the Way in Istanbul

ISTANBUL: It is just day two of the three-day DISCOP West Asia and already deals are stacking up for the Turkish companies on their home turf.

Ziyad Varol, the content sales deputy manager at broadcaster ATV, reports sales of their series Sila to Ukraine’s 1+1, and to Pink International for its channels in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Macedonia following on from recent sales in Kazakhstan, Bulgaria and Greece. He was also celebrating the sale of Life Goes On to RTL Croatia. Speaking to World Screen Newsflash as the deals were closed Varol said, "Sales of Turkish content have been spreading ever-wider recently, and I am sure that these sales will open up new markets for other ATV content."

The extent to which the world is waking up to the quality of Turkish production is illustrated by Hasan Bozaslan, the director of international sales at producer-distributor Samanyolu, who told World Screen Newsflash that, as a result of meetings at DISCOP West Asia, the company was "70-percent sure of signing deals in the Balkans, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Ukraine."

Ozlem Ozsumbul, the head of sales and acquisitions at rival broadcaster Kanal D, also had positive news to report coming out of DISCOP West Asia, with sales of the series Bir Bulut Obam to Bulgaria and Fatmagul to Sitel TV in Macedonia. Even bigger news for Kanal D was the sale of their format My Partner Knows to Lebanon’s MTV, representing the first format deal Kanal D has ever made. Although unable to give details, Ozsumbul told World Screen Newsflash that she hoped the company would close a second format deal on the same title in Mexico before the market ends Thursday.

Farrell Meisel, recently appointed director of development at leading distributor Global Agency, believes formats are the future, commenting that "broadcasters increasingly struggle to meet the cost of their own development and formats address that problem as well as being a local production, which not only means they are usually more popular, but which also adds to the development of the broadcaster brand." Following Global Agency’s significant recent expansion, Meisel reported, "We are very, very busy," adding, "but for us, the main value of markets such as DISCOP West Asia is the ability it affords to spend tıme with clients and buyers and build relationships in a way that is not possible at some other markets."

Ahmet Ziyalar, the managing director at major Turkish producer-distributor Inter Medya, agrees, saying, "This market is very valuable for us as it allows us to spend time wıth our core clients from the Mıddle East and Central and Eastern Europe, and, of course, it is very convenient having it in your home town!" Although Ziyalar was not in a position to reveal details at the tıme of writing, he was confident that "we will definitely close deals before the end of this market."