TRT channels are a good substitute for those who cannot physically be in Turkey or don´t have native informants around. When I first opened Turkish news it sounded like a language I had never heard of even though I had been studying on paper for some while. But as you make it a habit you soon recognize words and small sentences. (In my opinion, what is the most important thing in studying a language is doing it every day even if one doesn´t always have so much time.)

Some programs, of course, are more suitable for learners than others. Actually I was hoping other learners would tell about their experiences here but here are some things that I noticed:

*It´s good to choose things which you are really interested in. Studying must be fun.

*The best programs for learners are those where picture or text supports the spoken language. Fortunately this point has been taken seriously even in many news and current topic programs in TRT. My favourite is this morning program where they analyse world newspapers: the headlines help you (if they are not in Japanese) and you can catch things when you concentrate. What helps listening the news in Turkish is looking at world events first in your own language or any language you are fluent in: it takes you half way when you already know what to expect.

*I love weather forecasts in any language. You can just lean back in your chair and enjoy the beautiful flow of language.

*Watching sports sounds difficult at first because the broadcasts are often noisy and the commentators speak impulsively. But if you are into football or tennis or athletics it´s worth trying because within one field of sports vocabulary is quite limited, I guess.

*Excellent programs for language learning are those where practical skills are taught. I have been looking for a nice cooking program but I didn´t find one until now. In kitchen shows the voice is often scratchy, I don´t know why.

*Soap operas and serials often have simple language if you manage to find one that matches your idea of quality. (I can´t watch comedies for a minute, for instance.)

I myself am a beginner with Turkish.. I´ve been learning for almost a year and on paper everthing was just ´çok güzel´ but when I had a chance to meet up with a couple of Turks I was speachless!! At first I was really shocked and stressed and I couldn´t understand a word they were saying, but as I got used to the melody of the language I began to understand. But then I had a problem with me trying to say even 1 word. I was also in a good (or maybe bad) situation- they understood my native language, so they would talk to me in turkish and I would respond in my langauge 
But then I started watching turkish soap operas, movies. I could understand more and more! Today I even decided to watch a football match in turkish  I now laugh at myself when I remind myself of all those situations, but after listening to a lot of turkish I became more confident of my own speeking... if only now I had someone to speak to! Writing isn´t a problem but after you conquer the fear of speaking you´re ´all set´ 

Nice OBK. I wish I could attend a Turkish class with both you and Abla!  Ive also been studying mostly for over a year now but I could not attend a class so its been mostly self guided, though I don´t get to practice speaking much and I don´t have any Türk friends that live around here So I am always studying grammar, reading and writing on forums (in my spare time) to keep what I have learned fresh. 

I used to watch alot of Turkish TV as well, both shows and news and found it also helped me learn to recognize words and sentences. Though now, due to graphic design class work I have less free time to do anything with Turkish. I do try to make time to watch a film in Turkish when I find them. 

Now what ıve been doing, almost everynight, is listening to Turkish talk radio (via a Droid mobile phone app) a little while before I go to sleep. İts also helping my brain to recognize words and the suffix sounds with them. Guess it can help some to memorize when you have no other audio or visual distractions and just focus on listening.