A+E Network will launch Lifetime® in Turkey on April 26, its first FTA channel in the market.
The announcement was made today by Dean Possenniskie, managing director, EMEA, A+E Networks, and Esra Oflaz Guvenkaya, president, MCD Medya.
Lifetime Turkey will be launched through a joint venture between A+E Networks and MCD Medya. Fox Media has been appointed as its ad sales representative in territory.
The channel will roll out programming from its catalogue featuring global franchises from series and specials to groundbreaking movies. In addition, Lifetime Turkey will unveil local formats of some of its most popular series to be announced at launch.
As well, Lifetime Turkey will premiere an original new daily morning talk show to be hosted by Turkey’s well-known, on-air personality Özge Uzun. Uzun and her experts will tap into various female-skewing topics such as, beauty, cooking, fashion, pop culture, social media, health, childcare, music, movies, and more.
“We are thrilled to further strengthen Lifetime’s global footprint through the launch of our first free-to-air channel in Turkey, and proud to partner with MCD Medya to debut a premium channel for women,” said Possenniskie.
“Additionally, Lifetime Turkey represents a key element of our growth strategy to extend A+E Networks’ portfolio across EMEA. The channel will collectively give us the ability to reach over 19 million households and deliver to advertisers a high-value, upscale audience with real scale.”
“I am honored to partner with A+E Networks to bring Lifetime to Turkey,” said Oflaz Guvenkaya.
“The channel’s program schedule draws from a rich library of content and formats that are well-localised to match Turkish viewing habits. The live morning show aims to be informative, inspiring and interactive for female and male viewers alike. Lifetime will be a pioneer in the Turkish market, filling a gap across the Free TV landscape from the viewers’ perspective and in the industry from the advertisers’ perspective.”
Oflaz Guvenkaya is herself a well-known businesswoman around the world and in Turkey, having been in the industry since 1992. She runs her own channels in Turkey, as well as a content distribution business in film and television; she has brought many international channels to the region during her tenure. Based in Istanbul, Oflaz Guvenkaya will lead a local team currently being recruited.
Lifetime is in 150+ million households worldwide, across 110 territories, airing in 11 languages.
