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Why Disney+ Chose Halef as Its First Turkish Series for MENA

Why Disney+ Chose Halef as Its First Turkish Series for MENA

Disney+ has opened its Turkish catalogue for the Middle East and North Africa with one drama: Halef, the Şanlıurfa-set family saga from Most Production that topped the September 2025 season debuts on NOW in Türkiye. On 29 September 2026 its leads, İlhan Şen and Biran Damla Yılmaz, walked on stage at a Disney+ event in Riyadh to announce that Halef is the first Turkish title licensed by Disney+ MENA, a week before the platform’s upgraded app was due to roll out across the region.

For a market where Turkish drama has been a staple of Arab television for almost two decades, the deal is small in volume but big in signal: a global studio-owned streamer, which so far relied on Hollywood franchises in the region, is now buying a Turkish prime-time series, and doing it at a launch event in Saudi Arabia.

In brief

  • Halef: Köklerin Çağrısı is the first Turkish title acquired by Disney+ for the Middle East and North Africa; the deal was announced at the Disney+ launch event in Riyadh on 29 September 2026.
  • The series premiered on NOW on 18 September 2025 with a 4.44 rating and 13.22 share (Total 5+), reported by distributor Inter Medya as the highest-rated debut of the September 2025 season.
  • Season 1 ran to 35 episodes (finale on 11 June 2026); season 2 started on NOW on 24 September 2026, and season 2 was confirmed for Disney+ in the region at the event.
  • International rights are handled by Inter Medya, which has also sold the show to Romania, Hungary, Italy, Croatia, Albania and several Latin American markets.
  • The event launched Disney+’s upgraded app for MENA, set to roll out on 6 October 2026, and a Saudi-dialect dub of Toy Story 5.

What exactly did Disney+ buy, and who sold it?

Disney+ MENA licensed Halef from Istanbul-based distributor Inter Medya, which holds the series’ international distribution rights. The show is produced by Most Production and originally broadcast on NOW, one of Türkiye’s major free-to-air channels.

According to Birsen Altuntaş, the stars flew to Riyadh on the evening of 28 September together with Most Production’s head Gül Oğuz, who is credited as the series’ creator and producer. At the event the next day, Şen and Yılmaz announced the show’s arrival on stage and then took part in a press conference with regional and international media. Inter Medya executives also attended, according to BroadcastPro Middle East and Señal News.

Inter Medya picked up the global distribution rights in September 2025, days after the Turkish premiere. Its founder and CEO Can Okan described Halef at the time as having “a rare mix of authenticity and universal appeal”. Before the Disney+ deal, the company had announced licences in Romania and Hungary (April 2026), Italy (May 2026), Croatia and Albania (June 2026), as well as Panama, El Salvador and Honduras.

The financial terms of the Disney+ deal, the licence period and the exact number of episodes included have not been disclosed. Altuntaş reported that the full first season is to be uploaded to the platform.

Key facts Halef
Original title Halef: Köklerin Çağrısı
Genre Family drama, romance, feud saga
Channel in Türkiye NOW (Thursdays, 20:00)
Premiere 18 September 2025
Season 1 35 episodes, finale 11 June 2026
Season 2 Premiered on NOW on 24 September 2026
Production company Most Production
Creator / producer Gül Oğuz
Director Deniz Çelebi Dikilitaş
Head writer Ercan Uğur
Main location Şanlıurfa (incl. Harran, Halfeti, Birecik)
International distributor Inter Medya
Streaming Disney+ Türkiye; Disney+ MENA (first Turkish title)

Why is a Şanlıurfa feud drama the right first bet for the Arab market?

Because its core ingredients, family honour, an arranged marriage to end a blood feud and a hero torn between two worlds, are themes that have made Turkish drama a habit for Arab audiences. The setting also helps: Şanlıurfa sits near the Syrian border, and its stone mansions and old town feel close to the region’s own architecture.

The story follows Serhat, a successful surgeon who has built a life in Istanbul and secretly married Melek. When his father falls ill, he returns to his hometown in Şanlıurfa, where his family pushes him into a religious marriage with Yıldız to end a long-running feud between two rival families. Loyalty, power and revenge drive the plot.

Production began in Istanbul on 18 July 2025 and moved to Şanlıurfa in early August, with a main set built around a stone mansion and scenes shot in Harran, Halfeti and Birecik, according to Türkiye Gazetesi.

Actor Role
İlhan Şen Serhat, a surgeon who returns home
Biran Damla Yılmaz Yıldız, the bride chosen to end the feud
Aybüke Pusat Melek, Serhat’s secret wife in Istanbul
Veda Yurtsever Sultan
Hakan Salınmış Bekir Ağa
Yurdaer Okur, Onur Bilge, Mazlum Çimen Supporting cast

How well did Halef actually perform in Türkiye?

Strongly at launch and consistently enough to be renewed. The premiere on 18 September 2025 delivered a 4.44 rating and 13.22 share in Total 5+, and the first episode passed 6.1 million YouTube views shortly after release, according to Inter Medya.

In October 2025 TGRT Haber reported the series as the week’s number one, with 8.07 among all viewers, 5.30 in AB and 6.69 in ABC1 (the article did not specify the episode or the measurement period). Season 1 ended with episode 35 on 11 June 2026. Season 2 was initially expected in early September 2026; it opened on NOW on Thursday 24 September, five days before the Riyadh event.

Halef was already streaming on Disney+ in Türkiye under its full title before the MENA deal, which, in our view, made it a low-risk first pick: the title was already in the Disney+ catalogue.

What is Disney+ trying to do in the Middle East and North Africa?

Disney+ is repositioning itself in the region as a broader, family-oriented service with more local relevance, and the Riyadh event was the showcase. The upgraded app was scheduled to roll out across MENA on 6 October 2026.

The service first launched in 16 MENA markets on 8 June 2022, after Disney ended a long arrangement under which OSN carried its originals in the region. Until now its regional pitch rested mostly on Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic content.

At the 2026 event the company presented a redesigned experience with personalised recommendations, a Junior Mode for children and enhanced parental controls, a monthly price of AED 49.99 in the UAE, and Toy Story 5 as the first Walt Disney Company film dubbed in the Saudi dialect (alongside Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian versions). Tamim Fares, director of Disney+ in the Middle East and North Africa, framed the strategy as giving audiences more choice. Korean dramas such as The Remarried Empress were also part of the line-up, which shows that Disney+ is building a slate of popular non-English drama around its franchises.

Why is MENA the market every Turkish drama wants to win?

Because the Arab world is where the Turkish series boom started. The Arabic-dubbed broadcast of Gümüş, retitled Noor on Saudi-owned MBC, turned Turkish drama into a pan-Arab phenomenon in the late 2000s and is widely credited with boosting Arab tourism to Türkiye.

Today the business is global. A CNBC-e report cited by Duvar English in January 2025 put 2024 revenue from Turkish series exports at more than $500 million, with over 300 productions sold to about 200 countries and the Middle East named among the regions with growing viewership. Netflix Türkiye said that 47 Turkish productions had entered its weekly global top 10 since 2021.

Politics has shaped access to the Gulf. After the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi companies imposed an unofficial boycott on Turkish goods, which also affected Turkish series on Gulf screens. Restrictions were lifted in 2022, and in October 2022 MBC Group signed five-year agreements with Medyapım and Ay Yapım for exclusive Turkish content and co-developed Arabic originals, according to Arab News.

Who is Disney+ competing with for Turkish drama in the region?

Mainly MBC’s Shahid, which has deep relationships with Turkish producers, and Netflix, which commissions Turkish originals and sells them globally.

Under the 2022 MBC deals, new Turkish titles from Medyapım and Ay Yapım air in the region on MBC channels and Shahid, dubbed into Arabic, on the same day as in Türkiye. Shahid has also premiered Turkish productions such as Aşk ve Gözyaşı, the Turkish adaptation of the Korean hit Queen of Tears starring Hande Erçel and Barış Arduç, in September 2025. Netflix, for its part, has made Turkish series a regular part of its global charts.

Against these players, a single licensed title is a modest entry. But Disney+ already has a production base in Türkiye: it launched there on 14 June 2022 with local originals, and it carries Turkish broadcast series such as Halef on its Turkish service. Those assets can now be reused for MENA.

What does this mean for buyers, producers and platforms?

Our take: the facts above point to several practical conclusions for the industry. These are our interpretation, not statements by Disney+, Inter Medya or Most Production.

  • A new buyer in the Arab market. Until now Turkish distributors selling drama to the Gulf mainly talked to MBC/Shahid, OSN+, regional channels and Netflix. Disney+ MENA opening a Turkish slot creates competition for second-window and library rights, which can support prices for proven titles.
  • Broadcast hits travel first. Disney+ did not start with a streaming original but with a free-to-air series with a public ratings record and an existing Disney+ Türkiye window. For producers, strong NOW, Show TV, ATV or Kanal D numbers remain the best sales argument.
  • Family-safe drama fits the new positioning. The platform is marketing multi-generational viewing and parental controls. Traditional, honour-and-family stories set in Anatolia match that brief better than edgy streaming dramas.
  • Saudi Arabia as the stage. Launching in Riyadh, with a Saudi-dialect dub on the same bill, shows where Disney+ sees growth. Turkish producers interested in co-production or Saudi locations should watch whether Disney+ moves from licensing to commissioning.
  • Talent as marketing. Sending the leads and the producer on stage turned a licence into a regional press event. Distributors may increasingly be asked to include talent appearances in deal packages.

FAQ

Is Halef the first Turkish series on Disney+?

It is the first Turkish title acquired by Disney+ for the Middle East and North Africa. In Türkiye, Disney+ has carried local series since its 2022 launch, and Halef was already available there.

Where can I watch Halef?

In Türkiye it airs on NOW on Thursday evenings and streams on Disney+. In the MENA region it is licensed to Disney+, whose upgraded regional app was scheduled to roll out on 6 October 2026.

Who produces and distributes Halef?

It is produced by Most Production, led by creator and producer Gül Oğuz, and distributed internationally by Inter Medya.

Where was Halef filmed?

Mainly in Şanlıurfa in south-eastern Türkiye, including Harran, Halfeti and Birecik, with some scenes in Istanbul.

How many seasons does Halef have?

Season 1 had 35 episodes and ended in June 2026. Season 2 began on NOW on 24 September 2026 and was confirmed for Disney+ in the region.

What were the deal terms?

Financial terms and licence duration have not been made public.

Sources

This article is for information purposes only.

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