Türkiye unveils most-watched documentary channel in 2025

In 2025, TRT Belgesel became the most-watched documentary channel across the "All Persons" audience in the "All Day," "Prime Time," and "Off Prime Time" time slots.

According to a statement from TRT, TRT Documentary (TRT Belgesel) continues to shape Turkish documentary filmmaking by embracing TRT’s public broadcasting responsibility and the motto “TRT is both memory and future,” producing content that prioritizes national vision as well as social and cultural values.

Since launching in 2009, the channel has gained strong audience support and recorded 50 million audience interactions in 2025, CE Report quotes Anadolu Agency.

Highlighting national technology and development

With documentary series such as Turkey’s Giant Structures and Game Changer, the channel sheds light on Turkey’s national technology and development initiatives. Through My Family: Hearts Close with Love, it also draws attention to the foster family system.

Reflecting TRT’s stance as the voice of the Palestinian people against Israeli genocide, the channel brought this perspective to the screen with From the Goal Line to the Front: Palestine. It also addressed the 14-year Syrian civil war in the documentary Password Homeland: Zero Terror.

In 2025, TRT Documentary broadcast 125,680 minutes of disability-friendly content, with programs prepared in subtitle and sign language versions for visually and hearing-impaired audiences.

New local productions to meet viewers in 2026

Focusing on addiction, one of Turkey’s priority social issues requiring collective action, the channel will present a 13-episode documentary series on addiction in the first half of the year.

Many new and locally produced documentary series—such as The Science of Daily Life, Family Table, Traces from the Earth, The Power of Kindness, Adventure Plan: 4x4 Journeys, Production Hubs, Recipes from the Past, Harvest Time and In the Shadow of the Sanctuary—will meet audiences in 2026.

Digital followers exceed 9.2 million

During the 2025 broadcast season, TRT Documentary strengthened its digital presence with the motto “Follow the Traces, Share the Story.”

The channel surpassed 9.2 million followers across all digital platforms, gaining more than 900,000 new followers over the year. TRT Documentary continues to lead among documentary channels in Turkey in terms of follower count, engagement and view rates.