Turkish Drama Golden Boy Sells into MENA

MBC has acquired the Turkish drama Golden Boy from Eccho Rights to air on the free-to-air channel MBC4 and SVOD platform Shahid.

Golden Boy is slated to premiere on October 30 on MBC4, making it the first Turkish drama on free-to-air TV in MENA since 2018, when a blanket ban on Turkish content was implemented by linear broadcasters throughout the region following political tensions between Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Produced by OGM Pictures, Golden Boy premiered in late September on Star TV. The series is now Turkey’s most watched across the entire week.

“We are delighted to see the reopening of this vital market—audiences in the MENA region were among the first to embrace Turkish drama internationally and to be able to serve them the latest and best content again is really exciting,” said Melis Hamamcioglu, director of digital media acquisition and content sales at MENA, Israel and India at Eccho Rights.

Handan Özkubat, director of Turkish drama at Eccho Rights, said: “Golden Boy is proving hugely popular with domestic audiences, and has all the hallmarks to succeed worldwide. A classical family drama, with two opposing families brought together by impossible love, and a revenge story that threatens to pull apart the central romance.”