TV series face demand and supply problem, says actor
ÇANAKKALE - Anatolia News Agency
Turkish TV star Beren Saat.
There is a supply-and-demand problem in the Turkish television series industry, Tarık Pabuççuoğlu, a veteran Turkish television and cinema actor, has said.Pabuççuoğlu, who is currently playing a role in a Turkish TV series, criticized the workings of the sector while speaking to Anatolia news agency.
“I am worried about the cultural erosion that Turkey faces today. It is very important to attract audiences to the theater, but no one is interested in it,” Pabuççoğlu said. “[TV series] feed of commercial advertisements and this makes it a commercial situation.”
Each season, 120 TV series hit Turkish television screens, Pabuççuoğlu said. “Each [production] team consists of 50 people, but only a few of these series can survive and continue through the season. When TV series are canceled then people become unemployed.”
There is a supply-and-demand problem in the Turkish television
series industry, Tarık Pabuççuoğlu, a veteran Turkish television
and cinema actor, says.
This is a question of supply and demand, Pabuççuoğlu said. The imbalance of supply and demand affects everything in the industry, he said, and added that this also drives the cultural erosion Turkey faces.
Meanwhile, fully 78 percent of poll respondents in the Arab world and Iran report that they have watched Turkish soap operas.
Demand is high in Arab countries
“[Turkish] TV programs have taken the region by storm, with Turkish TV stars becoming pop idols,” a report from Paul Salem titled “Turkey’s image in the Arab World,” said. These soap operas have the effect of “creating attachment, understanding and affection for Turkish identity, culture, and values” in the region, the report said. “Like Egyptian TV and cinema creating a prominent cultural place for Egypt in previous decades, Turkish television has made similar inroads in Arab [and Iranian] popular culture,” the report said, adding that this has been complemented by a wave of tourism to Turkey that is bringing Arabs and Iranians from various classes and walks of life to the country, which has become the most popular tourist destination in the region.
