Last week, Disney+ Türkiye had removed domestic series and movies from the platform. We may see a similar step from Netflix very soon. So why are the TV series platforms taking or close to making these decisions?
Series and movie platforms are looking for the high traffic and subscriber numbers they have achieved during the pandemic. In addition, the quality of the content is seriously declining due to the fact that they constantly have to prepare new series, movies and documentaries, Even domestic TV series for which millions of dollars are spent It doesn’t get enough attention anymore.
As such, global companies are trying to save on taxes and royalties. However, when this is not enough, the last resort is to remove the productions on which high hopes are placed from the platform. If you remember, we saw a bloody example of this on the Disney+ Türkiye front. Very soon Netflix has taken a similar step. we can see.
The cost of a series, movie or documentary content doesn’t stop after it’s broadcast:
All content published on platforms falls into two categories: Original titles or purchased third-party titles. For example for Disney+ Recep İvedik 7; It went on the air as an original production because the rights were purchased before it was released in theaters. However, the previous films of the series were not original productions, as they were already broadcast on other platforms, including movie theaters, on TV channels.
Example of third party productions Breaking Bad or The Walking Dead We can cite series as an example. These series are not Netflix or Disney+ originals. Both US television giants AMC It was filmed, broadcast and now sold to Netflix and Disney+ platforms in exchange for broadcasting for a certain period of time. In other words, platforms pay the real owner of the series, like rent, for the time they keep non-original productions on the air.
A series that is finished and loved by the audience causes serious competition between platforms. For example, the Walking Dead series again, right now both Netflix and Disney+ is traceable. In other words, producer AMC earns money from both companies for the broadcasts of the series in Turkey. Since he is a fan of the series, platforms can gain subscribers in this way, and they allocate some of the income to producers like AMC.
The same is true for original productions. When the original series is shot with a very good director, a good screenwriter, a good staff, the expenses do not end after the series is broadcast. As long as the content remains on the air, large sums of money must be paid to the production company, director and actors – as per their contracts.
So why are productions being cancelled? For example, you can’t watch Harry Potter movies on any platform in Turkey right now…
When you remove a production from the platform, if it is an original production, the payments made to the team are saved. If the production is not original, this time there is no need to pay rent to the company, channel or producer who is the original owner of the content. That’s why The Office And friends The platforms on which the series are broadcast are constantly changing.
For example Harry Potter series, is currently not available on any platform you can subscribe to from Turkey. Because Warner Bros., the owner of this movie series, has not made an agreement to broadcast the movies on platforms in Turkey. Existing agreements have expired. That’s why the only option to watch is to rent the series for once or to add it to your personal library by purchasing it on platforms such as Apple TV+.
Disney+ didn’t just take down its original content in Turkey, Amazon’s Lord of the Rings project didn’t work, Netflix is constantly losing subscribers:
All these developments are an important sign that platforms will enter a period of serious austerity. Even if you are the world’s biggest platform, biggest e-commerce site, biggest entertainment brand; You have to make a profit to survive.
Just for this reason, Disney released the book, written by George Lucas, the father of Star Wars, which he released in 2022. The Willow series, in which he spent $ 35 million cancelled. Such cancellation news is not new for Netflix, as The Mindhunter, Sense 8, and even the recently domestic production Hot Head are among the canceled projects.
But Disney isn’t just a company that makes money with digital subscriptions. Marvel, Pixar, Star wars The main productions of brands such as these fill movie theaters every time. After these productions reach serious popularity, they come to digital, gain new subscribers, and then watch series in which the same story is continued.
Netflix does not have such an advantage. Until recently, the platform was only To meet the requirement to win an Oscar award Some of his films were released in a limited number of theaters and received an award. In addition, the platform does not have any cinematic universe or long-term projects.
Putting all these together, we can easily say that Netflix may soon take the path of removing domestic series, especially non-original productions, from the platform:
Turkey also has a very special place for platforms in this regard. Because the subscription fees in our country, Due to the opening of the scissors between the dollar-TL platforms do not provide significant income. This makes the Turkish market one of the first markets suitable for reducing the number of content in the library, which can be abandoned in a possible crisis and austerity policy.
Türkiye; Pakistan is the cheapest after India and Kenya Country where Netflix subscription fee applies ($63.99 = $2.47). It does not clearly explain how many subscribers Netflix has in our country, but this number is thought to be around 2 million. In a rough calculation, assuming that everyone uses the basic membership package, Netflix’s money comes into its coffers from Turkey with $4.94 million every month.
The production cost of Club, the most expensive series produced by Netflix in Turkey, is approximately 6.5 million dollars. So, Netflix, the cost of this series from Turkey even in 1 month can’t get it out. In such a case, we see a decrease in the number of domestic productions that design projects, and a decrease in their quality as lower budgets are allocated.
The biggest problem is poor quality. In particular, the quality of original productions, even both original and domestic productions, is a matter of debate:
Visual effects in a scene in Hakan: Mıhafız, one of Netflix’s first domestic productions
When was the last time you watched a great new series or movie that platforms originally produced? Let’s stop watching, when did you hear that a good local original production was released? In particular, most domestic original productions are as much as TV series. cliché scenario, character, acting, visual effects owner. We see very few good and local original productions, and when that happens, we are eagerly waiting for that production from the very first trailer.
Especially if it comes across the local TV series and movies, maybe even after they go on the air, or even while you are browsing the platforms, we are informed. In fact, the reason why we hear some productions is usually the poor quality of the content. For this reason, we are not motivated enough to watch. Since most of us do not have serious spare time in daily life, it is already a series and film criticized for being of poor quality We don’t want to risk our hours, we don’t want to give.
Platforms like all of us are aware of this problem. Over 200 million subscribers, high cost of renting and publishing ready made content, platforms are more affordable. “Let’s Do It Ourselves” pushing option. As such, platforms act as if they have to pull a lot of content to fill their libraries at low cost.
As a result, you have to look for a needle in a haystack to have a good time on a platform you pay for. Especially if you are accessing from Turkey:
We hope that platforms will devote more time and resources to producing audience-friendly content to solve this quality problem. However, they have to show their library full so that the subscriber they have won thanks to a very good series does not cancel their subscription after they finish that content. This means that broadcasting series and movies with the subscription model is actually not a very efficient way is showing.
That’s why both Netflix and Disney+ systems with ads and lower subscription prices is testing. Thus, advertising revenues can save the fate of platforms. However, at this point, metrics such as the number of subscribers, viewing times per subscriber, and the most consumed content types begin to gain more importance.
Amazon Prime Video’s Türkiye library is one of the narrowest country libraries of the platform. Disney+ has stopped producing productions in our country until a second change. There is no sound from Netflix yet, but unfortunately, the projects produced do not attract much attention abroad, like the TV series that took the world by storm. Because users abroad consume serials with richer libraries. On top of that, one RTÜK’s sensitivity to broadcasts When you add it, producing a good production becomes as difficult as finding good content to watch.
We hope that this situation will change soon and we will see productions that global brands invest more in our country and that have the potential to gain serious popularity abroad on digital platforms. Otherwise, especially Netflix castles of domestic digital productions It looks like it will continue to fall apart.