Netflix and Disney settle Turkish SVOD exclusivity probe with major concessions

This settlement fundamentally alters the bargaining power between global streamers and the Turkish creative ecosystem by removing restrictive talent locks. By forcing Netflix and Disney to shorten exclusivity windows, the Turkish Competition Board is ensuring that high-value local content can circulate more freely across fragmented market players like BluTV and Exxen. This move mirrors a growing global regulatory trend where local authorities are intervening to prevent dominant SVOD platforms from monopolizing regional production pipelines through vertical restraints. Strategists should watch for the publication of the Board’s reasoned decision, which will detail the specific behavioral remedies and investment-related benchmarks these platforms must now meet to maintain compliance.

The Turkish Competition Board's settlement with Netflix and Disney arrives amid a broader wave of regulatory scrutiny over streaming exclusivity practices worldwide. The Board formally launched its investigation on March 17, 2025, targeting Netflix, Disney+, Exxen, BluTV, Amazon, and Gain for alleged violations of Articles 4 and 6 of Turkey's Act No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition. The probe examined whether Netflix abused its dominant position by imposing exclusivity conditions on producers, distributors, and talent, and whether all six platforms entered restrictive agreements with content creators. The investigation's scope, covering both abuse of dominance and horizontal coordination, mirrors the EU's Digital Markets Act framework, which imposes obligations on designated gatekeepers to prevent self-preferencing and ensure fair access to content distribution. Turkey's approach is notable because it targets talent exclusivity clauses specifically, a practice that has drawn criticism from producers' guilds across multiple markets.

On the business side, the settlement carries direct implications for the competitive dynamics of Turkey's fragmented SVOD market. Warner Bros. Discovery launched Max in Turkey on April 15, 2025, rebranding BluTV and committing to increased investment in local productions, making Turkey the 77th Max territory. Deniz Şaşmaz Oflaz, WBD's VP of local original productions for Turkey, stated that the company plans a minimum of eight scripted shows and four unscripted shows annually, positioning Turkish content as a key export asset within WBD's global ecosystem. The removal of talent locks under the settlement could accelerate Max's ability to attract top-tier creative talent previously bound by exclusive contracts with Netflix or Disney. Jamie Cooke, WBD's general manager for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Turkey, confirmed at the launch event that the company is committed to increased spending on Turkish original productions long term, with new originals including Feride, Anatomy of Chaos, and Jasmin already announced.

From a content economics perspective, Turkey's position as one of the world's largest TV drama exporters adds urgency to the exclusivity question. The Turkish Competition Board's preliminary inquiry, as reported by Medianama in March 2025, specifically examined whether Netflix discriminated between Turkish producers and favored its own original productions over independent content. This discrimination concern is particularly significant given that Turkish scripted content ranks among the top three global exporters of series, with strong demand across the Middle East, Latin America, and increasingly Central and Eastern Europe. The settlement's requirement to shorten exclusivity windows could reshape how high-value Turkish productions are licensed and distributed, potentially enabling local platforms like Gain and Exxen to access content that was previously locked into global streamer pipelines for extended periods.