Warner Bros. Discovery acquires Turkish streaming service BluTV

For the past three years, Warner Bros. Discovery and BluTV — Turkey’s first local SVOD service — had a partnership that made WBD a 35% shareholder in BluTV. Since its launch in 2016, BluTV has seen rapid growth in both original content and its content library, leading to the launch of Discovery+ on the platform in 2021. In February, HBO content and kids channels were added to BluTV, giving viewers access to channels such as Cartoon Network and Cartoonito, as well as award-winning series such as The Last of Us,” “Game of Thrones” and “Sex and the City”

“We are very excited about this new chapter,” said Jamie Cooke, GM CEE of Middle East and Turkey at Warner Bros. Discovery, in a statement. “Turkey has been an important investment area for us for over 20 years and with the acquisition of BluTV we have added Turkey’s first local SVOD provider to our portfolio. The combination of compelling Turkish content and a wide range of Warner Bros. Discovery’s best international series and shows is an unbeatable recipe to be locally relevant and successful. Together, we will offer Turkish viewers the most compelling viewing experience and expand the reach of Turkish content globally.”

Deniz Şaşmaz Oflaz, CEO of BluTV, added: “We are very happy that our strategic partnership with Discovery Inc., which started in 2021, has resulted in us being one of Warner Bros. Discovery’s brands today. As the leading local subscription video platform in Turkey, we are proud that our steady growth since day one has made us a part of one of the largest media companies in the world. From now on, we will combine the best local stories we have ever presented to our viewers with the world’s best global content to curate the strongest streaming platform in Turkey and bring our most successful local stories to the world.”