Max’s Best-Performing Local Original Production Is… Turkey’s ‘The Prince’

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Among all locally produced originals on Warner Bros. Discovery’s upcoming HBO Max, the standout global performer is… the grand reveal: the Turkish satire series titled “The Prince” (or “Prens”).

Last Friday, the concluding episode of the highly popular third season was released, and, based on our data, it appears to have played a significant role in boosting viewership figures.

In the fictional land of Bongomia, the show centers around Giray Altınok’s character, the Prince, who is humorously depicted as an unpopular royal figure, so unimportant that his own family failed to bestow him with a name.

Over the past month, the Turkish version of Max Original set a new global record for viewer interaction among all local productions on Max, as revealed by Warner Bros. Discovery. An impressive 74% of subscribers within the nation watched it.

During this timeframe, “The Prince” emerged as a significant factor in attracting new viewers, often being the first show that approximately 73% of new users on Max watched. This makes it the local original production with the highest number of initial subscribers in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, according to company data.

In its last week, Turkish broadcasts of season 3 of “The Prince” made up an impressive 72% of all viewing on Max in Turkey. Warner Bros. Discovery further noted that the recently aired final episode (episode 8) was the most-watched program of the week, with a whopping 54% of viewers having already tuned in to see the finale just three days after its release.

The shift of WBD’s streaming platform BluTV to Max in Turkey, which was confirmed in mid-April, signifies the company’s dedication to enhancing its investment in domestic content and delivering an enticing array of fresh local narratives on their streaming service within the country.

Deniz Şaşmaz Oflaz, head of local original productions, local channels, and streaming operations for Turkey at THR, states that the popularity of “Prens” demonstrates the robust demand for top-tier, locally made originals. This trend underscores Max as a hub for such content. In addition, he shares that with “Prens” being one of our initial original series since we launched the platform directly to consumers in Turkey earlier this year, it’s thrilling to observe how it’s contributing to drawing new viewers to the platform.

In a recent chat with THR, she gave an intriguing take on the show: “At first glance, it seems like a laugh-out-loud comedy. But upon closer look, it’s actually more of a blend between humor and drama – a dramedy, if you will. The main character is our not-so-bright prince who’d rather avoid the throne, reminiscent of characters in epic series like Game of Thrones. However, this kingdom has its own set of challenges that are familiar to us from such shows, but presented in a satirical light.

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2025-07-01 12:24