Nordic nets bag their first Turkish drama series after Eccho Rights deals

Mert Ramazan Demir as Ferit in Turkish drama Golden Boy

SERIES MANIA: Turkish drama is making further inroads into the Nordic market, after broadcasters in Sweden and Finland bagged their first drama from the Mediterranean country via distributor Eccho Rights.

Sweden’s TV4 has acquired family drama Golden Boy, marking what Eccho said was the first Turkish drama to have been acquired by a commercial broadcaster in Sweden. The show will air on the TV4Gold and Sjuan linear channels, as well as streamers CMore and TV4 Play.

Melis Hamamcioğlu

In Finland, MTV Oy has picked up the same series, a move that represents “the first time ever that a Turkish series has been licensed by a Finnish broadcast group,” said the Night Train Media-owned distributor. Golden Boy will stream on CMore and Katsomo in Finland.

Produced by OGM Pictures for Star TV in Turkey, Golden Boy was the most watched series of 2022 in Turkey, added Eccho, and continues to rank as the number one drama series in the country each week, the company said.

Internationally, the series has been licensed to more than 35 territories worldwide in less than six months since its launch, including Spain (via Atresmedia), Chile (Mega), MENA (MBC Group) and Romania (Antena 1/Happy Channel).

The show tells the story of two sisters, who both fall in love with the same man, and stars Afra Saraoğlu, Mert Ramazan Demir and Çetin Tekindor.

“We are thrilled to once again be at the forefront of bringing Turkish drama to new audiences. Golden Boy’s extraordinary success so far makes it an easy choice for broadcasters looking to test something new,” said Melis Hamamcioğlu, director of digital media acquisition and content sales for MENA, India, Pakistan and Western Europe at Eccho Rights.

Previously owned by South Korea’s CJ ENM, Eccho Rights was acquired by German company Night Train Media in 2022.