1 Introduction
This study traces the evolution of Turkish television in 1990, which is considered to be the birth year of private broadcasting in Turkey, through TV’de 7 Gong magazine, a weekly television magazine that includes the daily programming. Using qualitative content analysis methodology, the study systematically examines the shifts in television content and evaluates the differences in terms of programme types between public and private broadcasting within a historical context. The data set of the study consists of selected issues of TV’de 7 Gong magazine from 1990, obtained through archival document analysis. The daily broadcast streams in the magazine were coded and analysed on the basis of Raymond Williams’ categorisation model for television programmes. Thus, the content strategies of public and private channels in the process of transition of television broadcasting to a multi-channel system in Turkey have been revealed comparatively.
Today, Turkish television content attracts international attention, and programmes produced on both traditional television channels and digital platforms reach large audiences from different continents. However, the historical transformations underlying this global expansion, especially the changes in the logic of broadcasting, have still not been sufficiently analysed through data-based and archive-oriented studies. This situation points to an important gap in the field.
2 From State Monopoly to Multi-Channel Television: The Changing Ecosystem of Television in Turkey
The start of television broadcasts in Turkey was only possible in the second half of the 20th century which was relatively late compared to the United States and many Western countries. The test broadcasts first commenced on 9 July 1952 at the Istanbul Technical University (ITU) where broadcasting continued until late 1960s. The broadcasts were first watched in the Beyoğlu region and the university area due to the low number of television receivers and viewers (Duman 2013: 21–22). According to the information given in a news report published in 1954, the number of television receivers in Istanbul were known to be around 30 (Serim cited in Ünlü 2015: 39). The broadcasts became continuous and widespread with the establishment of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), the country’s first state-owned channel.
On 1 January 1964, the TRT law came into force and institutions other than TRT were prohibited from making television and radio broadcasts in Turkey (Nalçakan et al. 2017: 73). Accordingly, with the protocol signed with TRT on 31 August 1971, ITU decided to end its broadcasts (Özçağlayan 2000: 42). Although ITU broadcasts hold an important place in the history of television broadcasting in Turkey, it is accepted that the first official Turkish television broadcast was made by TRT on 30 January 1968. The first television broadcasts were conducted three days a week, lasting four hours each.
TRT started its first broadcasts in black and white, and after the trial broadcasts in 1982, it switched to full color television broadcasts in 1984. Color television broadcasts were initially able to reach only 10% of the country (Aziz 2013: 204-205).
In the developments in broadcasting in Turkey, the beginning of color television broadcasts was followed by TRT increasing the number of channels. The second channel, which was opened in 1986, was followed by the third channel (TRT 3) in 1989, the fourth channel in 1990, and the fifth channel with TRT-INT was opened in the same year. The second channel’s broadcasts mainly featured culture, news and educational programmes. While the fourth channel continued its broadcasts only for educational purposes, TRT-INT emerged with the aim of broadcasting abroad. Thus, it would not be wrong to say that the number of channels increased to five between 1986 and 1990. With TRT launching new channels, viewers had more than one option. However, within these dates, viewers began to experience different channels not only on TRT broadcasts, but also through satellite and cable television. With the spread of new technologies in the country, viewers were offered the opportunity to watch 20-30 foreign television channels after the single channel they had been experiencing for a long time. Especially since the mid-1980s, the number of satellites used in homes increased greatly, and viewers were able to easily access channels broadcasting in other countries (CNN, BBC, SKY Channel, RTL, Raiuno, etc.). Although this situation has been advantageous for viewers, it has complicated the legal processes in countries such as Turkey, Greece, and Italy. The implementation of the TRT legal monopoly on television broadcasting in Turkey has become difficult as a result of these updates. Along with this situation, the establishment of channels broadcasting in Turkish via satellite and their spread throughout the country have further increased the existing confusion and have become the subject of major debates and legal processes within the country (Aziz 2013: 205–207).
The year 1990 marks a turning point in the history of Turkish television, initiating a shift from a static, state-controlled model to commercial dynamism (Şahin 1996). The first channel to start broadcasting in Turkish via satellite, Magic Box Star 1, started test broadcasts on 1 March 1990, and increased its broadcasting time to five hours per day on 7 May 1990 (Yengin 1994). Although it was not possible for a channel other than TRT to broadcast in Turkey according to the Constitution, Magic Box Star 1 continued its broadcasts by taking advantage of the legal loophole pointed out by the then President Turgut Özal. Özal told reporters during his visit to the US in 1990 that “There is no rule preventing Turkish television broadcasting from abroad. Anyone who rents a channel from a foreign country can broadcast to Turkey”, and after this, the number of private television channels broadcasting in Turkish began to increase (Cankaya cited in Ünlü 2015: 68).
The emergence of Star 1 channel is worth attention since it directly entered a great competition with TRT and the diversification of the content as a result of this competition, attracted the attention of the audience (Şeker 2016). Star 1 transferred the management and announcer staff of TRT and purchased the rights of football match broadcasts with the start of its broadcasting life (Büyükbaykal 2011). Star 1 introduced an innovative experience to its audience by focusing on entertainment, curating its broadcast schedule with foreign films and dramas, music programs, NBA games, and entertainment shows (Maraşlı 2017: 388). In fact, analyses of Star 1’s first week of broadcasting reveal that the channel’s schedule was almost entirely dominated by imported foreign series, offering clear evidence of a one-way international cultural flow during this transition period (Özşirin, Koluman and Aslan 2022). This approach provided viewers with a format that was previously unfamiliar to them. Over time, different types of programmes than the traditional format such as hidden camera pranks, competition programmes, talk shows, reality shows, tabloidised news and sports programmes, and discussion programmes were produced (Geçer 2013: 215) changing the television culture in Turkey.
3 Archiving Television: Why Is It Innovative to Study Television Programme Guides?
Until very recently, television was the dominant mass communication tool and, even today, it remains one of the most prominent forms of mass communication, as it continues to be profitable and to attract audiences (Silverstone 2003; Fiske & Hartley 2004; Fiske 2010; Hilmes and Jacobs 2021). Pajala points out a “memory boom” in contemporary television culture: “The past has become a useful resource for public service television companies trying to maintain their cultural position in the changing media environment” (Pajala 2010: 163). This also indicates the need to establish greater access to the television archives. Archiving is a current issue many countries are interested in besides encountering many problems such as copyrights, digitization, online database, cataloguing (Smart and Wrigley, 2016).
When it comes to archiving of the Turkish television history, it is possible to say that TRT has lately been quite active in creating an archive that is accessible. Under TRT, there is a Department of Media Management and Archives which is responsible for “carrying out media management and recording, copyright, digitization, restoration, content analysis and inquiry activities to preserve the audiovisual media assets produced for broadcast and stored in our institution’s broadcast archives as cultural heritage and to pass them on to future generations”. (TRT Kurumsal). This shows that as the umbrella governmental institution of national channels in Turkey, TRT takes on the responsibility to create such an archive. Another example of this is the social media extensions of the archive. The Instagram page trtarsiv has 2.5 million followers and 7.730 posts as of August 2025 which shows that it is actively creating content for a large audience.
However, a ready-to-research archive of Turkish television is still not easily accessible, despite the fact that television fandom also contributes to the archiving process. “Video footage that cannot be accessed is at risk of being lost. Therefore, it is necessary for the produced archival materials to be classified and made accessible under secure conditions” (Özcan 2021). This causes a certain scarcity of academic research as well. Hence, in countries where the archiving has either paused due to various reasons or not yet reached a mature level, alternative ways to study the archives could serve as creative and fruitful.
As an innovative way to consider the archives, Television Programme Guides (TPGs) may serve as invaluable tools for recovering information about lost media. Television programme guides, documenting not just what programme aired, but precisely when and on which channel, act as historical cases to be studied in detail. Due to tape wiping, degradation, or simply the lack of recording in the first place, vast portions of television history are physically lost. As Taylor states, “There is no radio or television archive anywhere in the world which contains a complete archive of the material transmitted since the inception of those media. We have already lost a great deal of our twentieth century heritage” (Taylor 1996: 420).
Similarly, Jacobs notes the frustration scholars experience when it is impossible to access archives for research purposes (Jacobs 2006). Furthermore, Spigel mentions that television history, the first materials to be archived, was largely based on print media (Spigel 2005). From this point of view, the listings within a television programme guide may be the sole surviving evidence that certain programmes ever existed, especially if they belong to early stages of television in a country. In other words, they serve as media and television paratexts (Gray 2010). These guides can provide vital metadata such as titles, broadcast times, synopses, time slots, and sometimes even cast lists, allowing television historians to map the gaps and “ghosts” within the television archive and gain a more complete picture of broadcasting history. As Scannell puts it, when in need, Television Programme Guides could function as “contributive to the overall communicative ethos of television” (Scannell 2010). Analysing TPGs should be considered an innovative approach for television and media studies primarily because it allows researchers to reconstruct the crucial context surrounding broadcasts.
On the other hand, the analysis of Television Programme Guides offers deep insights into the strategic thinking behind television scheduling, often referred to using Raymond Williams’ concept of “flow” (Williams 1990). By examining the sequence and placement of programmes within the guide, by analyzing how these may change even in short time periods, media researchers can see into how broadcasters attempted to capture and hold audience attention. This includes strategies like creating themed programming nights, using popular shows as lead-ins for newer ones, counter-programming against rival channels’ offerings, and targeting specific demographics during particular time slots. Particularly in comparative studies, for instance the beginning of television broadcasts by more than one institutions in Turkey as of 1990, such an analysis can provide a solid basis for research. Television Programme Guides, therefore, become primary source documents revealing the economic and cultural logic underpinning the structure and development of television broadcasting.
4 Analysing Broadcasting Transformation: an Archive-Based Study of 1990 Turkish Television
4.1 Aim
Through an examination of the television guide TV’de 7 Gong, this research investigates the pivotal changes that occurred in Turkish broadcasting in 1990, a year that marked the emergence of private television networks in Turkey. The research employs a qualitative content analysis to track how television content evolved during this period, while also exploring the distinct programming differences between public and private broadcasters from a historical perspective. With such an aim, the following research questions are raised:
What specific changes in programme types and content focus are evident in Turkish television broadcasting, as documented in the TV’de 7 Gong guide, during the pivotal year of 1990 marking the rise of private television?
How did the variety and emphasis of programming offered by the established public broadcaster compare to that of the newly emerging private broadcasters in Turkey in 1990?
4.2 Research Design
This research is a qualitative content analysis study that aims to analyse the transformations in television broadcasting in Turkey during the transition to a multi-channel structure in 1990. The research was conducted using the data collection method of archival document analysis. This method involves the systematic collection, classification, and analysis of historical documents (Fitzgerald 2012; Ventresca and Mohr 2017). Programme guides are valuable sources for obtaining data-based results in historical analyses of television broadcasting. Hence, magazines, which have the feature of being television guides, can shed light on academic studies as reliable and meaningful primary sources in terms of revealing periodical transformations.
4.3 Data Source and Sample
In determining the data source for the study, archives from state libraries in Turkey were reviewed. Three magazines were identified as television viewing guides: TV’de 7 Gong, Teleskop, and Hey TV. These magazines included information about which programmes were broadcast on television channels, along with their airtime. It was found that TV’de 7 Gong was the only magazine that provided complete data for the year 1990, which constitutes the universe of the study. Accordingly, the primary data source of the research is the daily television broadcast schedules published in the 1990 issues of TV’de 7 Gong. The year 1990 was chosen as the sample year primarily because it marks the beginning of private television broadcasting in Turkey. It is considered a critical threshold at which the state monopoly of TRT was broken and competition in the broadcasting field emerged. In this respect, 1990 represents a year that witnessed not only a technical transformation in television broadcasting but also a content-based and cultural shift. Purposive sampling technique was used instead of the whole population during the analysis. Among the 53 journal issues of 1990, nine issues selected by taking into account the diversity of content and the ability to represent the period were included in the scope of the analysis.
The reason why these issues were preferred is that the broadcast stream of STAR1, the first private television channel, was presented to the readers for the first time in the magazine on 5 June 1990 among satellite channels. This broadcast stream is included in the 23rd issue of the magazine. It is an important point of distinction in terms of focusing on the inclusion of private television in Turkish television and the changes that followed. In this respect, issues 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 of the journal were selected as the sample. These issues were selected in such a way as to enable the observation of the changes and diversification of the broadcast streams of both private and public broadcasting channels throughout the year. This approach enabled the study to create a systematic and highly representative data set, given both time and resource constraints.
4.4 Coding and Categorisation Procedure
A total of nine issues of TV’de 7 Gong magazine in 1990 were analysed. Since each issue includes a weekly programme flow, 63 days of broadcasting flow was subjected to content analysis. The channels analysed include six state channels (TRT 1, TRT 2, TRT 3, TRT 4, TRT GAP and TRT INT) and one private channel (Star 1). These channels represent all television channels broadcasting on a national scale in 1990. Therefore, the research provides a comprehensive data set covering the entire national broadcasting network of the period. The research is based on the categorisation model developed by Raymond Williams in his study Television: Technology and Cultural Form (1990) on television broadcasting. According to this model, Williams classifies television programmes into 12 basic types; these are news and social events, special programmes and documentaries, education, art and music, children’s programmes, dramas, movies, general entertainment, sports, religious broadcasts, promotions and advertisements.
In the coding phase of the study, each magazine issue was listed separately on the basis of the seven days of the week and the programmes were coded one by one within the broadcast stream of each day. For each programme, the name of the programme, its start time and duration in minutes were recorded and coded systematically. The coding process was carried out manually and the data were organised through Excel software.
The coding procedure was carried out independently by the researchers and subjected to cross-coding. The codings were compared and a common opinion was reached. The high rate of agreement between the coders was considered as a factor that increases the reliability of the data. In cases of incompatibility, the coding was clarified by taking the opinion of a third researcher.
Following the coding process, each programme was categorised according to the types identified in Williams’ categorisation. Here, since the “programme name” information obtained from the data source did not always provide information to be included in a clear category, the researchers reached a consensus by using two different methods. Firstly, the programme in question was searched on the internet to access past programme images or information. With this method, the type of the programme was determined and included in the categorisation. Another verification method used is the content of TV’de 7 Gong magazine. This data source offers rich content in terms of containing not only programme lists but also promotional articles and visuals related to the programmes. The researchers completed the categorisation by obtaining detailed information about the programmes, which can be considered to be of uncertain genre, from the magazine itself.
4.5 Limitations of the Study
One of the main limitations of the study is that the analysis is limited to nine issues published in 1990. This situation causes the study to focus only on the beginning of the transformation in television broadcasting. However, this choice makes it possible to conduct an in-depth analysis to understand the year in which private television was born. Moreover, the fact that the data sources are limited to printed magazines creates the possibility that some broadcast streams may be incomplete or inaccurate. This situation necessitated a careful archive search during the content verification process. The researchers tried to minimise the possibility by taking this situation into consideration. Another limitation of the study is that it uses the main categories used by Williams. Although some television programmes were not included in this categorisation, in order to make the programme durations calculable, they were included in the category that was considered to be the most representative with the common opinion of the researchers. Thus, while obtaining the results of the research, the general integrity was not disturbed.
4.6 Findings
4.6.1 Stream in the Archive: Reading the Media Ecosystem through Programme Guides
| TRT1 | TRT2 | TRT3 | TRT4 | TRT GAP | TRT INT | STAR1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| News and public affairs | 14.517 | 3870 | 414 | 3244 | |||
| Features and documentaries | 4470 | 4765 | 1850 | 240 | 1745 | 4615 | |
| Education | 5990 | 205 | 500 | 455 | 95 | ||
| Arts and music | 2790 | 3945 | 2193 | 90 | 395 | 3797 | 23330 |
| Children’s programmes | 7355 | 55 | 430 | 1000 | 2175 | 2010 | |
| Drama (total) | 8658 | 7639 | 4270 | 395 | 866 | 5073 | 13755 |
| Foreign dramas | 6923 | 7319 | 4245 | 395 | 305 | 2355 | 13515 |
| Local dramas | 1735 | 320 | 25 | 561 | 2718 | 240 | |
| Movies (total) | 3495 | 1475 | 5143 | 740 | 515 | ||
| Foreign movies | 2646 | 945 | 4502 | 90 | |||
| Local movies | 849 | 530 | 591 | 740 | 425 | ||
| General entertainment | 1845 | 3075 | 175 | 30 | 30 | 2908 | |
| Sport | 6590 | 930 | 1239 | 845 | 5110 | ||
| Religion | 580 | 240 | 30 | 200 | 270 | 105 | |
| Publicity (internal) | 522 | 570 | 28 | 75 | 58 | ||
| Total | 56.812 | 26.769 | 15.358 | 1255 | 6765 | 22.750 | 44.310 |
Table 1 shows channel and programme-based duration analysis of the television programmes in Turkey in June and July 1990. As shown in the table, two sub-categories were added to Williams’ categorisation since local-foreign content distinction was an important theme in Turkish channels.
TRT 1 broadcasts cover 32.65% of the total broadcast time of 174.019 minutes. It is followed by Star 1 with 25.46%, TRT-2 with 15.38%, TRT INT with 13.07%, TRT 3 with 8.93%, TRT GAP with 3.89% and TRT 4 with 0.72%.
Of the total broadcast time of TRT-1, which is 56.812 minutes, 25.55% of the “News and Public Events” category consists of broadcasts and 15.24% of the Drama (Total) category. While 79.96% of the 8.658 minutes of “Drama” broadcast consists of “Foreign Dramas”, 20% consists of “Turkish Dramas”. In other words, foreign dramas took up approximately 4 times more space than local dramas in TRT 1’s drama content. A similar situation is seen in the “Movie” category. Of the “Movie” category, which has a broadcast schedule of 3.495 minutes, 75.72% consists of “Foreign Movies” and 24.28% consists of “Turkish Films”. In other words, foreign movies took up approximately 3 times more space than local movies among the movies broadcast on TRT 1.
According to the data, the third most broadcasted category on TRT 1 is “Children’s Programmes”. This category, which is seen in 12.95% of the total broadcast time, is followed by “Sports” broadcasts, which represent 11.60% of the total broadcast time with 6590 minutes of broadcast time. One of the main reasons why such a broadcast time was reserved for sports could be the fact that World Cup 1990 started in June. Another category that is allocated the most space in the programme flow, “Education”, has a share of 10.54% with 5990 minutes of broadcast time.
When it comes to the “side” channels of TRT, it is notable to mention the foreign to local content ratio. For example, the category that finds the most slots in TRT 2’s broadcast schedule is “Drama”. In “Drama” broadcasts, which constitute 28.53% of the channel’s total broadcasts with a broadcast time of 7639 minutes, “Foreign Dramas” are overwhelmingly included (95.80%), while local dramas are given limited coverage (4.19%). A more balanced distribution is seen in film broadcasts. “Foreign Movies” are 64.07%, and “Local Movies” are 35.93%. Similarly, the category that takes up the most space in the TRT 3 channel’s broadcast schedule is the “Movies (Total)” category with a total of 5.143 minutes. This broadcast constitutes 33.48% of the channel’s total broadcasts. In this category, “Foreign Movies” constitute 87.55% of the broadcast time. In drama broadcasts, the “Drama (Total)” category, which covers 27.80% of the channel’s broadcasts with a total of 4270 minutes, ranks second in the broadcast schedule. Foreign dramas constitute almost all of this category, 99.41%.
The category that has the most space in the TRT 4 channel’s broadcast schedule is the “Education” category. This category, which makes up 39.84% of the channel’s total broadcasts with 500 minutes, reflects the channel’s main broadcast purpose and its focus on the audience. The majority of educational broadcasts are an indication of the importance the channel gives to educational and instructive content. The “Drama (Total)” category comes in second place. This category makes up 31.47% of the channel’s total broadcast time with 395 minutes and is completely devoted to “Foreign Dramas”. “Domestic Dramas” are not included in this programming at all. As shown in Table 1, another channel operated by TRT is TRT GAP. The category that has the most space in the TRT GAP’s broadcast schedule is “Features and Documentaries”, which constitutes 25.79% of the channel’s total broadcasts. This category emphasizes the channel’s educational and informative mission and aims to provide viewers with cultural, historical or social content. “Children’s Programmes” is in second place, covering 14.78% of the channel’s broadcasts. This shows that the channel offers educational and entertaining content, especially for young viewers.
Lastly, when it comes to TRT INT, the category that has the most coverage on the channel’s broadcast schedule is “Drama (Total)”, which accounts for 22.30% of the channel’s total broadcasts. Within this category, “Local TV Series” has an important place with 53.58%, while “Foreign TV Series” has 46.42%. This distribution shows that TRT INT features both local and foreign dramatic productions and follows a balanced approach in presenting these types of broadcasts to its viewers.
1990 marks a revolutionary year for Turkish television history since the first private television channel started broadcasting. When the broadcast schedule of Star 1 channel is examined, the most covered category stands out as “Arts and Music”. The 23.330 minutes of broadcast time allocated to this category constitute 52.64% of the channel’s total broadcasts. This rate shows that the channel gives great importance to artistic content and music programmes. It can be said that Star 1’s broadcast policy is based on a broadcast line focused on cultural-artistic production.
The second category in the broadcast flow is “Drama (Total)” broadcasts. This category, which constitutes 31.05% of the broadcasts with a duration of 13.755 minutes, mostly includes “Foreign Dramas”. This category covers almost all of the dramas broadcasts with a rate of 98.25%. This distribution shows that the channel allocates a very limited place to domestic productions in its dramatic content preferences and largely focuses on foreign content in its dramatic broadcast policy.
“Sports” broadcasts were another notable category, accounting for 11.53% of the total time. This rate shows that the channel allocates a certain amount of space not only to cultural but also to sports content. However, it is understood that these broadcasts are secondary when compared to cultural content.
“Children’s Programmes” covers 4.54% of the broadcasts, indicating that the channel has a limited but existing broadcasting policy aimed at younger age groups. This rate suggests that children’s content is included, but it is positioned outside the channel’s basic broadcasting strategy. Apart from this, “Religious Broadcasts” only covers 0.24%, and no content is included in the “News and Public Events”, “Special Programmes and Documentaries”, “Education”, “Movies”, “General Entertainment” and “Promotion” categories. This situation reveals that Star 1 does not focus on public responsibility areas such as providing news, education or informative content; it aims to reach the audience with cultural, dramatic and entertaining content.
5 Conclusion
A detailed analysis of the broadcast content of public and private channels in Turkey in 1990 reveals notable structural differences in their respective broadcasting strategies. The broadcasts of TRT channels contain order and organisation. They are structured broadcasts with opening and closing times. In TRT’s broadcasting practice, it is observed that a certain understanding of representation is present probably due to the responsibility of being a public broadcaster. As a result, it is organised as a more framed programme “presentation”. It is observed that the channels under TRT adopt various thematic orientations within the scope of public service broadcasting; they offer information, education, culture and entertainment to the audience in different proportions. While the fact that foreign dramas are mostly dominant in the drama category indicates the tendency towards external content, preferences in categories such as movies, education, children, music and documentaries clarify the corporate broadcasting identity of each channel. These distributions may reflect decisions that may have derived from audience segmentation and that strategic planning is effective in content production.
On the other hand, the broadcasting policy of Star 1 channel, which was the first private television channel to enter television broadcasting, points to a more flexible and experimental approach in terms of both content and time utilisation. The almost uninterrupted broadcasting of foreign video clips has pioneered a new and different broadcasting structure. This difference underscores a fundamental shift in the broadcasting paradigm in Turkey, signaling the onset of a radical transformation with the advent of private television. Star 1 channel allocated a large portion of its broadcasts to the Art and Music categories; in this respect, it clearly stands out from other channels. Drama comes in second place, and the content consists almost entirely of foreign series. Sports broadcasts are in third place. This distribution shows that STAR 1 focuses on cultural and entertainment content, and follows a limited broadcasting policy regarding local productions, news or educational content.
The findings reveal that there was a significant transformation not only at the structural level but also at the content level in the understanding of television in that period. Star 1 entered the media field with a content presentation that was unusual in Turkey until then. The broadcasting policy of the channel can be considered as an extension of the corporate approach of the Uzan Group in the entertainment sector. In this respect, the content offered by Star 1 represents a revolutionary understanding of entertainment, considering the conditions of the period. This transformation also makes visible the effects of globalisation at the local level through the media. It is observed that TRT also included international content during the single-channel period. However, when compared to Star 1’s broadcasting policy which directly and intensely reflects global trends it can be said that these efforts remain within a more limited and traditional framework.
TRT’s broadcasting policy aims to improve and culturally support the society within the framework of public service broadcasting. Star 1, on the other hand, adopted a content policy that claims to open Turkey to the world, especially by broadcasting NBA games and foreign video clips. On the other hand, it is observed that TRT included international content in English in this period. For example, during archive searches, English news programmes were found in TRT’s broadcast streams. In addition, it can be said that TRT 2, with its thematic broadcasting approach, is positioned as an internationally orientated extension of TRT 1.
These findings reveal a mutual interaction between public and private television channels that has been shaped over time. The archival analysis revealed news regarding the transfer of several TRT employees to Star 1. These transfers did not only remain at the personnel level, but also brought about the transfer of programme types and broadcast streams. In this context, a relationship that can be called “mimetic rivalry” has emerged between the two channels. Although there is competition, it has been observed that both sides have adopted different broadcasting practices and repositioned themselves in the process. For example, Star 1, which initially offered only entertainment content, has over time started to include news bulletins.
The fact that TV8, which like Star1 entered the world of television, did so with uninterrupted entertainment-oriented programming without news content, can therefore be seen as a continuation of this historical pattern. Similarly, Netflix’s programming policy on a global scale is a contemporary reflection of this entertainment-oriented approach. As can be seen, it is noteworthy that newly established channels often resort to this formula at the beginning of their broadcasting life and that they can quickly gain a place in the sector with this strategy.
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