Netflix Turkey, Puhu TV, Blu TV and even the short series on YouTube.. Traditional Turkish TV has lost the young generations' attention to these online platforms for alternative TV shows for a wihe ago. There are many reasons for this.
First of all, turkish series are so exhausting to watch because of the income from the ads. Turkish youth is very much familiar with the conception of TV shows in America, because of the serious extent of internet usage. They get all they want from an American show that is at most an hour long, wheress Turkish shows on TV can last up to four hours, so that's for sure exhausting.
Secondly, the restrictions that are arranged by the government strangle the producers and the writers for the traditional Turkish TV. TV shows are supposed to reflect the audience's lives, on the streets, they see violence, they hear cursings, they have intimate moments with their dates or even the alcohol and when they watch TV, they ser none of this. So, the restrictions on TV made the characters of TV shows unrelatable and unrealistic for the Turkish youth.
Furhermore, in my opinion, there is a huge gap between the youth and the elders. The TV shows that we watch say something about us or in other words, exposes something in us. Because of the different world views of this different generations, watching TV in a living room is not a comfortable act for a young turkish person who is in conflict with his or her family in many aspects. Though, online TV has privacy and it's somehow exclusive to the owner of the device or at least to his or her consent.
Last but not least, online TV doesn't have a limiting timing for the shows, you don't need to go back to home when your favorite TV show's new episode is aired, you can watch it whenevef you want. Even you can pause it at the half and watch the other half when domething emergenr happens that obliges you to leave the house. It's also non dependent on the place you watch, you can watch it at home, subway or anywhere you want.
In conclusion, I think the online TV in Turkey will grow in the market share more and more in further or the traditional TV will reform itself and be able to compete with it, at least for yhe young generations.
As a young Turkish person, my problem with the Turkish TV is not that they are similar to American ones. Whenever I go to visit my parents or a dizi loving friend visits me I have to watch some of the current shows. And I am not happy with gender and social roles that portrayed and sometimes forced. For example, in almost every love story that i encountered watching TV included physical, sexual or psychological harassment. There is always a guy does not accept "no" as an answer and people are expected to believe this is a sign of romantic love. Last week my brother pointed out that in every turkish dizi he watched there was a scene that a person does not let the other one to leave by smashing the door. So everytime I see that this kind of actions portrayed as romantic gestures I get angry. That is one of the reasons I choose to watch non-Turkish content.
ReplyDeleteYes, flirt violence or dating violence actually it is a fact which includes
ReplyDeleteConstantly texting or sending instant messages (IMs) to monitor you
Insisting on getting serious very quickly
Acting very jealous or bossy
Pressuring you to do sexual things
Posting sexual photos of you online without permission
Threatening to hurt you or themselves if you break up
Blaming you for the abuse
and Turkish dizis represent this facts as a 'romantic' person feature.
To add to what Umay said, Turkish TV lacks diversity. It has a political stance and it only represents and addresses a certain majority in Turkey. It's perfectly normal if you want to see a lifestyle that is similar to yours in TV and that goes for both sides. If you are a conservative person, you want to see it in daily TV shows because you can't relate to the opposite. But if you are not conservative, good luck with that. There is nothing that addresses to you in Turkish TV.
ReplyDeleteI'm not really sure about the concept of satisfaction from American shows that you mentioned. We can't get all we want, because the main feed of the media, the cultural familiarity is broken in foreign shows. I'm aware of the globalisation and can understand the unnecessity of cultural familiarity, but still feeling more related when I watch Avrupa Yakası rather than Friends. So I think Turkish TV (traditional or online) still has a huge cultural leverage to foreign shows for Turkish youth if it can improve itself in terms of scenario and daringness.
ReplyDelete