Why are Turkish series so popular?

Some time ago, the world was flooded with Latin American soap operas. Now, Spain and Latin America are experiencing a boom in Turkish television series. Thus, the series The Thousand and One Nights arrived in Spain through the television channel Nova while in Latin America it was premiered through Mega. It is one of the most successful Turkish dramas of all time. Not only was it a success in Turkey, but it expanded the market to Turkish productions in many regions of the world.

As for the popular soap opera What's Fatmagul's Guilt?, it has become one of the world's biggest hits and became the most-watched series in the history of Spanish Nova, with an average of 744,000 viewers since its premiere. It was screened in Chile, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia. So popular was it that Spain decided to prepare its own adaptation of the series.

The popularity of Turkish television series in Latin America and Spain is due to the nature of the plot, the atmosphere, and the quality of the shooting of Turkish film production.

Since Turkey is a multicultural country, there are actors for all tastes around. Spectators love the performance of the actors. These series reflect very well the social changes in society, the processes of migration from the village to the city, the problems of domestic violence, early marriage, the division between rich and poor, the problems associated with urbanization, and family values. They represent a synthesis of East and West. The world sees it as a geographical and cultural bridge. Also, there are similar social values that exist.

Turkish television series industry is conquering the world by regions and by stages. Now is the time for Latin America. It all began in 2008 with Eastern Europe and the Middle East. There was a time when everyone saw soap operas from Latin America, but then Turkey, in a way, occupied its niche in the market. It gained popularity in Russia and in the countries of the region, then in Latin America, and now it's the turn of Spain and Italy. There are good results even in the USA.

Public preferences

Each region has its own preferences, so in Latin America, the audience chooses dramatic series that raise ethnic questions, such as The Thousand and One Nights, The Return, Mother, or What's Fatmagul's Guilt?

A mother who, to save her son's life, agrees to spend the night with her boss; the love of a modern urban girl for the owner of a traditional farm; the cruelty to children and the story of a difficult relationship between a girl and a young man who believes he raped her, these stories have conquered viewers in Latin America because they reflect pressing social and human problems.

In the Middle East, films about modern life in Istanbul, a passionate love that overcomes the obstacles of poverty and wealth are preferred. Eastern Europe, on the other hand, prefers naive love stories, so-called soap operas. Television series production in Spain itself has slowed due to the spread of digital internet platforms and lack of funding.

Channels are more oriented to reality shows. Shooting a series is quite expensive, and television channels cannot cover their costs with advertising revenue. At the same time, the viewer switched to digital platforms. As in Turkey, in Spain housewives watch the series while they do their homework and if they miss something, they can usually deduce what happened in the following scenes.

And in reverse, some time ago, Latin American and Spanish series were very popular in Turkey. Today, however, the situation has changed drastically. A foreign series or film in Turkey during prime time (20:00 to 23:00) is not profitable in terms of advertising revenue.