Middle Eastern ban on Turkish drama ends with MBC’s Golden Boy acquisition

Golden Boy will debut on MBC4 this Sunday

Middle Eastern media group MBC has acquired drama series Golden Boy and will make it the first Turkish show to air in the MENA region since a ban was imposed in 2018.

MBC will air the drama on its free-to-air (FTA) channel MBC4 and SVoD platform Shahid, starting this Sunday, having acquired it from Scandi distributor Eccho Rights.

It is the first Turkish drama on FTA TV in MENA since 2018, when a blanket ban on Turkish content was implemented by linear broadcasters throughout the region amid political tension between Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Melis Hamamcioglu, director of digital media acquisition and content sales for MENA, Israel and India at Eccho Rights, said: “We are delighted to see the reopening of this vital market. Audiences in the MENA region were among the first to embrace Turkish drama internationally, and to be able to serve them the latest and best content again is really exciting.”

Produced by OGM Pictures, Golden Boy, which premiered in late September on Star TV in Turkey, tells the story of two sisters whose paths cross with ‘golden boy’ Ferit. Their lives change forever when Ferit decides to marry Seyran instead of Suna.

The series stars Afra Saraoğlu, Mert Ramazan Demir and Çetin Tekindor.