Up until 1990, all television and radio stations were owned by the state under TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation.)
According to the CIA, private owned television in the country includes 635 broadcasting channels. This is an outstanding success rate for Turkish media in a span of less than 30 years. As of 2012, 96% of homes had television in Turkey, which for that year, was 2% more than the United States! The wide variety of broadcast channels makes Turkey the 7th largest television producer worldwide. You'd be surprised to learn what the population is watching.
Türkan Ayvalıoğlu, a 36 year old female, shares her preference of television during an interview with Marc Guillet. "I love all CSI series. Also Dexter, ice skating, American fantasy television series ‘Game of Thrones’ and everything on Animal Planet." Her favorite actor? Jack Nicholson!
Another response from Barış Erdoğru, male age 40. His favorite shows include, " Dexter, The Big Bang Theory, Breaking Bad, Spartacus and CSI."
Hmm..Notice the trend here?
On the contrary, Semra Özbek Akgöl, female age 37, strictly watches Turkish television. "I don't like foreign shows," she states.
Out of the eight participants in Guillets interviews, more than half are in favor of international television shows. Don't let that discourage you from exploring Turkish entertainment. Here are a few notable televisions series in Turkish culture today.
- Magnificent Century, with four seasons, has over 200 million viewers.
- Ezel, a Turkish crime drama, rated 8/10 on IMDB.
- Karadayı, a drama series featuring a wrongful imprisonment.