Minister Ersoy announces: $100,000 per episode for Turkish series broadcast abroad

Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, at a press conference held at the Istanbul Atatürk Cultural Center, addressed the international distribution data of Turkish series and stated that Turkey is among the countries that export television series. In this context, he shared with the public a new approach that links series with promotional and tourism policies, as well as the applications planned accordingly.

Stating that the television series sector reaches nearly one billion people in approximately 170 countries, Ersoy noted that Turkey is among the world's leading television producers in terms of sales and export data.

Ersoy shared data on 65 billion 231 million dollars in tourism revenue and 64 million visitors, conveying Turkey's position in international tourism rankings. In this context, stating that different tools and methods are being evaluated with the goal of increasing these figures every year, Ersoy expressed that television series will be used within promotional policies.

Stating that support will be provided through the General Directorate of Cinema and the Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) to series that are considered to contribute to the promotion of Turkey and are broadcast in at least 10 countries across at least three continents, Ersoy said that the implementation will begin this year. Drawing attention to the criteria determined for productions that will benefit from the support, he used the following expressions:

“We are working to push these figures even higher every year, and while doing so, we take care to produce projects using original and different instruments. Today, with this perspective, we are making our series the locomotive of our new generation promotion vision. We will provide support through our General Directorate of Cinema and TGA to our series that contribute to the promotion of Turkey and are broadcast in at least three continents and 10 countries. We are starting to implement this decision without delay, as of this year. However, the criteria we have set must be met to benefit from this support. We will take into account issues such as the contribution made to the promotion of Turkey, the contribution made to the promotion and spread of the Turkish language, whether the countries to which the series are exported are among the target countries in Turkish tourism, as well as the number of countries exported to, total sales amount, and rating and viewership data, and we will provide our support in this direction.”

UP TO $100,000 SUPPORT FOR TURKISH SERIES

Sharing the details of the new support model, Ersoy announced that for each episode of series that meet the determined conditions, support of up to $100,000 in Turkish lira will be provided in total by the Ministry and the TGA.

Reminding that series in Turkey are broadcast for an average of 120 minutes, while they are sent abroad in 40–45 minute episodes, Ersoy stated that the domestic broadcast duration will be taken as the basis for the support calculation. According to this calculation, he stated that a maximum of $33,000 in Turkish lira support is envisaged for each episode broadcast abroad.

Ersoy also stated that the permit processes regarding filming locations will be accelerated and that areas affiliated with the Ministry will be allocated free of charge, adding that support for the sector's production conditions will be expanded.