Drama with a Pan-Arabic Appeal The United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, which were the main consumers of Turkish drama, banned Turkish drama from broadcasting in their stations. The ban has left a gap in the drama segment since Turkey was the major producer of this type of content. Saudi Arabia has lacked good writers who can create content that has a pan-Arabic appeal, which explains why Turkish series became popular in the region. The audience could easily relate to the Turkish culture and there was no competition from the Middle East because a majority of the productions are too local. According to Gianluca C h a k r a , Managing Partner at Front Row Filmed Entertainment, the productions “ were far too local …either it was to Lebanese or too Egyptian. By comparison, Turkish series had a pan-Arab appeal.”