DISCOP West Asia Spotlight: ATV

ISTANBUL: A large part of what has made DISCOP in Istanbul popular is Turkish content, and ATV has a wealth of this to offer for buyers attending the market.

For broadcasters interested in Turkish content, the series Peace Street could be just what they’re looking for. “Peace Street lets us see Turkey in a very different way,” says Ziyad Varol, the deputy manager for content sales at ATV, which sells the title. “It tells the story of two lovers stuck between two different lifestyles who want to make their love possible. In a way, it shows us the clash between the West and the East, modernity and tradition.” The Cliff deals with an issue that has affected many countries: the illegal trafficking of women. It tells the story of two Moldovian sisters who are captured, one of whom manages to escape and must find a way to free the other. Don’t Worry About Me is a large-scale production that features the sorrow-filled lives of several different characters, all of whom are living in the Black Sea region.

Varol says that Turkish series are finding new markets all the time, yet the Middle East, former Soviet countries, the Balkans and Eastern Europe continue to be the most important for sales. “The new markets that we would like to enter are Southeast Asia, Africa, Northeastern Europe and Latin America,” he adds.