Turkish TV channels halt summer series production due to rising costs

Turkish production companies, among the world's largest exporters of TV series, have canceled many shows and scrapped plans for summer series due to skyrocketing production costs.

Monday May 06 2024 05:03 pm

Duvar English

The renowned Turkish TV series market has been severely impacted by the ongoing economic crisis, prompting production companies to cancel all summer series this year and cut back on the number of shows for the upcoming season, according to journalist Birsen Altuntaş.

Even though Turkey became the third-biggest TV series importer worldwide according to the Economist, the rising production cost began to affect producers.

The cost of producing a TV series episode, which was around one to 1.5 million Turkish liras three years ago, has now soared to over 10 million liras. This drastic increase in production expenses encompassed actor salaries, screenwriter fees, director and technical crew wages, which have surged tenfold in the Turkish TV series market, according to Altuntaş.

Contrary to the skyrocketing costs, advertising fees did not increase at the same rate as in the past. As the series did not get enough advertising revenue to cover their costs, television managements started to end series if they were not sold on the foreign markets.

Altuntaş reported that major production companies like ARC Film and D Media have canceled their summer series projects planned for this year due to escalating costs. As things stand, no summer TV series will be produced in Turkey this summer unless there are significant changes.

The journalist further noted that in the new season beginning in September, TV channels would likely implement significant changes, including cutting back on airing different series each day of the week.