Cocoa Media Brings Turkish Dramas to FAST with Merzigo

Cocoa Media, founded recently by HBO Max alum Christian Toksvig, has inked a deal with Merzigo to bring classic and new Turkish dramas to major FAST platforms.

Cocoa Media’s FAST content is launching as channels under the brand names Merhaba Turkish Drama and Merhaba Turkish Films, as well as AVOD titles. The lineup of content from Merzigo includes series such as Magnificent Century.

The live channels and their corresponding AVOD content will launch over the coming months on Samsung TV Plus and LG Channels in Germany, on Philips Titan devices in Europe and Latin America and on Rlaxx TV. Several other platforms are to be announced in the future.

Other Turkish titles available as part of the partnership with Merzigo include Magnificent Century: Kösem, I Named Her Feriha, Woman, Forbidden Fruit, Golden Boy, You Knock on My Door and Miracle Doctor. All shows are subtitled or dubbed, as required for each region.

Toksvig founded the company after leaving his position as senior VP of HBO Max at Warner Bros. Discovery.

“Turkish television dramas have exploded in popularity across the world in the last ten years, as consumers have been charmed by their storylines centered on family, love, betrayal and intrigue, often led by strong female characters,” Toksvig said. “They have proven to be ratings winners for international broadcasters and, more recently, also as engagement drivers for global subscription streaming services. One place where they have been conspicuously absent is on the rapidly growing FAST services where consumers are spending more of their time. This new launch makes up for that.”

Yiğit Doğan Çelik, chairman of Merzigo, added, “As official partner of YouTube and Meta, we have been in the digital content business for the last five years. We believe Turkish content has huge potential for added reach and monetization in the AVOD and FAST space, and we are proud to initiate this partnership with Cocoa Media.”