The investigation initiated by the Turkish Competition Board (the “Board”) against Ay Sanat Prodüksiyon ve Yapım Anonim Şirketi (“Ay Yapım”) and Med Yapım Televizyon ve Filmcilik Anonim Şirketi (“Med Yapım”) has been concluded through the settlement procedure in respect of allegations concerning the exchange of competitively sensitive information in the labour market, with total fines of approximately TRY 124 million imposed.[1]
The decision is noteworthy both for its examination of competition law concerns relating to labour markets in the TV series production sector and for the Board’s emphasis that the application of mitigating factor reductions falls within its own discretion, thereby distinguishing its approach from that taken in multiple prior labour market decisions in which labour costs served as the basis for fine calculation. In these respects, the decision contains important signals for future investigations concerning labour markets.
The Turkish Competition Authority (the “Authority”), acting upon a complaint received, conducted on-site inspections at the premises of Ay Yapım, Med Yapım, and MA Distribution Televizyon ve Filmcilik Anonim Şirketi (“MADD”), in the course of which certain findings were obtained indicating that Ay Yapım and Med Yapım had engaged in an exchange of information concerning employee wages and pay rise rates in the labour market. Having assessed these findings, the Board decided to initiate a full-fledged investigation against the above-mentioned undertakings.
Although both Ay Yapım and Med Yapım requested the initiation of the settlement procedure under Article 43 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”), the Board turned those requests down. Subsequently, the Authority’s staff conducted further on-site inspections.
In the course of the investigation, having conducted a thorough examination of the sector, the Board considered that the relevant product market could be defined as the “labour market for employees working in the TV series production sector”, but ultimately determined that it was not necessary to make a definitive market definition within the scope of the file.
Only a single finding was examined within the scope of the file. The relevant finding revealed that: (i) an Ay Yapım official had enquired about Med Yapım’s forward-looking pay rise rate, and a Med Yapım official had indicated that work was ongoing as to whether a pay rise in line with the rate of inflation would be applied and that a briefing on the matter would follow accordingly; (ii) at a later date, a Med Yapım official shared with an Ay Yapım official the envisaged pay rise rate for permanent staff; and (iii) at an even later date, an Ay Yapım official made statements indicating an effort to keep employee salaries at the same level as those at Med Yapım.
Based on the said finding, the Board determined that the exchange of competitively sensitive information had taken place between Ay Yapım and Med Yapım.
At the later stages of the investigation, Ay Yapım and Med Yapım requested re-evaluation of their previously rejected settlement applications. The Board acceded to those requests and decided to commence the settlement negotiations.
During the settlement negotiations, Ay Yapım and Med Yapım argued, inter alia, that in the case of application of a fine, any fine imposed should be calculated not on the basis of the undertakings’ total turnover, but by reference to the proportion of labour expenditure within total costs. However, contrary to the approach adopted in the Labour Market I,[2] Software Sector Labour Market,[3] and Pharmaceutical Sector Labour Market[4] decisions, the Board underscored that the application of mitigating factor reductions falls within its discretionary powers and decided not to apply any such reduction.
Following Ay Yapım’s and Med Yapım’s receipt of the interim settlement decision and their subsequent submissions of the signed settlement texts to the Authority, the Board decided:
- that Ay Yapım and Med Yapım had infringed Article 4 of Law No. 4054 by exchanging current and competitively sensitive information concerning employee wages;
- that a reduction of 25% would be applied to the fines imposed on Ay Yapım and Med Yapım within the framework of the settlement procedure; and
- that, accordingly, a final administrative monetary fine of TRY 75,790,035.98 would be imposed on Ay Yapım and a final administrative monetary fine of TRY 47,811,989.24 would be imposed on Med Yapım.
The aspect of the investigation concerning competitive concerns arising from the joint distribution abroad of TV series produced by Ay Yapım and Med Yapım through MADD was concluded by the Board’s acceptance of the commitments submitted by the parties through its decision dated 20.11.2025 and numbered 25-43/1043-595; the reasoned decision on this aspect of the file has not yet been published.
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[1] The Board’s decision dated 26.07.2023 and numbered 23-34/649-218.
[2] The Board’s decision dated 27.02.2024 and numbered 24-10/170-66.
[3] The Board’s decision dated 11.09.2025 and numbered 25-34/810-474.
[4] The Board’s decision dated 20.11.2025 and numbered 25-43/1044-596.
