Patrick Rivet, CEO of Thema America, spoke to ttvnews about the latest news from Kanal D Drama, a network that combines a strong linear and VOD offer of Turkish dramas, and already reaches seven countries in Latin America.

Launched in October of 2018, Kanal D Drama is one of the standout networks on Thema America’s catalog, which is now promoting it in Latin America and the US through new premieres and a strong VOD lineup.

“The network is already present in seven countries in Latin America. Cotas in Bolivia and Movistar in Peru were the latest to add it and we also recently launched it on Comcast’s Xfinity TV in the US,” Patrick Rivet, CEO of Thema America, said to ttvnews.

“We see a big demand for the network, which continues to grow with big success,” he added.

The main interest for the network, Rivet explained, relies on its strong VOD offer, which provides operators with the ability to offer all the episodes for the network’s Turkish dramas on their own platforms, immediately after they air on the network.

“In today’s industry, traditional pay TV operators want to have more and more VOD content associated to linear networks. And that’s what we’re offering with Kanal D Drama,” he said.

And not only that. Thema has just created an in-house unit to face this demand, which focuses on delivering each episode in the correct format and immediately after its linear premiere, complete with their own synopsis and all the meta data.

“This allows them to deliver the VOD content in the correct format and with all the meta data associated with it. We provide that service ourselves,” he said.

All in all, the network offers around 1500 hours of Turkish series a year, which translates into 10 to 12 series.

And the service isn’t limited to Kanal D Drama alone, but actually covers all of Thema’s networks, including Spain’s CincoMAS.

“It’s a lot of work that we do and it’s something that didn’t exist yet, so we are creating it for operators and ultimately for the viewers in the region,” he said.

“Along with their linear networks, consumers now want to be able to watch content wherever and whenever they want to, on any device,” he added.

New Monthly Premieres

With around 12 premieres a year, Kanal D Drama has new Turkish series every month of the year.

In March alone, the network is premiering in Latin America and the US, four new Kanal D fictions: Beyond the Clouds, with Engin Akyürek; Waiting for the Sun, by D Productions; Sweet Revenge, also by D Productions; and Hulya, with Burcu Biricik.