Turkey Is Set to Follow Korea as a Streaming Content Gold Mine | Charts
Following the booming success of Korean content in recent years, other countries have been hoping to achieve a similar level of international acclaim for their local content. One market that we’ve been monitoring closely as an origin for globally popular content has been Turkey. We have previously highlighted the regional spike in demand for Turkish content in Latin America. Here we take a look at how demand for Turkish series has been growing in the U.S. and consider whether this is the beginning of a new trend for international content.
As of June 6, total U.S. demand for Turkish series was 24% higher than it was a year ago, according to Parrot Analytics‘ data, which takes into account consumer research, streaming, downloads and social media, among other engagement. There was a large rise in demand for these shows in the second half of 2022. Although Turkish content still accounts for a small share of demand for international content in the U.S., this means that there is large potential growth upside.
When we looked at American demand for international series last year, the most in-demand Turkish series in the U.S. was “Family Secrets (Yargi).” At the time, it had 6.4 times the average series demand. So far this year, five Turkish series have attracted greater demand than the top series did last year: “Family Secrets” now ranks as the ninth most in-demand Turkish show in the U.S. This underscores the inroads Turkish content has made in the U.S. over the past year and the many new series that audiences here have discovered.
The majority of the most in-demand Turkish shows in the U.S. have been dramas, similar to how K-dramas specifically have led demand for Korean content higher around the world. In particular, several of the top Turkish series are soap operas, which have won fans in Latin America where telenovelas are a staple of TV programming.
“The Tailor (Terzi),” which premiered on May 2, shows how competition for these shows is starting to heat up. The show was originally scheduled to air on TV8 in Turkey but then Disney+ announced it would pick up the series to help bolster its standing in Turkey after launching in the market last June. However, it was ultimately Netflix that got the global streaming rights to the show and it premiered as a Netflix original.
The problem for U.S. audiences — and the opportunity for distributors — is the limited availability of these shows in the U.S.. A majority of the most in-demand Turkish series have yet to find a streaming home in America. “Hercai” is available on Peacock and “Resurrection: Ertugrul” was just taken off Netflix in April. That means a lot of opportunity is left on the table. Picking up the rights to shows at the forefront of this emerging trend could be a savvy way for streamers in the U.S. to stay ahead of the curve as American audiences continue to embrace more international content.
Christofer Hamilton is a senior insights analyst at Parrot Analytics, a WrapPRO partner. For more from Parrot Analytics, visit the Data and Analysis Hub.
Also Read:
Turkish Entertainment Content Is Booming – in Latin America? | Charts
