Farewell Satellite Dishes! (2004)

In the past, by which is meant a time over 20 years ago, Turkish residents in Germany could only receive Turkish television via satellite. The analog cable network at the time only carried the state-owned channel TRT-Int (now TRT-Turk). This changed in early 2003 when, with the digitization of the cable network in Germany, cable operators began to offer foreign language Pay-TV packages, including a Turkish one.

Yet, the cable network operators didn’t seem to truly believe in the success of such an offer and were not prepared to invest in marketing measures. After all, why should Turkish households pay a monthly fee for a few Turkish TV channels in a cable Pay-TV package when they could receive ten times as many for free via satellite? The reason they were willing to pay a monthly fee was that receiving satellite was not that easy. Firstly, one had to get permission from the property owner, which was not always simple. Secondly, the balcony or the apartment had to face the correct direction, as the satellite dish had to be aligned with the satellite. Thirdly, there were always reception problems during bad weather, which could be pretty annoying. Fourthly, the satellite dish often marred the appearance of the beautiful balcony or significantly restricted its use. Speaking of balconies: not every house had one, which was instead the exception in Germany. In short, there were many reasons why Turkish cable Pay-TV packages should have been a success.

Source: Medit Mediterranean Media Rights GmbH 2002-2014)