Micro dramas, the buzzy format awash with billionaires behaving badly and werewolf lovers, are raking in cash.
The mobile-focused shows have caught Hollywood’s eye in recent months, and a new report from streaming consulting firm Owl & Co. hints at why. The short-drama apps are on track to make $3 billion in revenue this year globally, excluding China, Owl estimated. That’s nearly triple their haul last year.
“Short dramas are no longer an experiment,” Owl founder Hernan Lopez said. “They’re a $3 billion industry — and that’s before any of the best known IP, brands, talent, or producers get in.”
About three-fourths of that revenue comes from viewers, who are prompted to pay up after seeing a certain number of episodes for free, Owl said. Most of the rest comes from advertising.
Other key stats Owl shared:
The US is the biggest market for micro dramas outside China, accounting for $1.3 billion20 apps, including market leaders ReelShort and DramaBox, account for about 90% of the revenueThe top 20 apps reach 250 million monthly active users, or about 10% of US mobile usersFew dramas reach hit status. ReelShort’s most popular title, “The Double Life of My Billionaire Husband,” hit almost 500 million views. But of 1,200 series tracked by Owl, only 2% crossed 100 million views.
The phenomenon popularized in Asia is still small next to streaming giants like Netflix — which made about $11 billion in revenue last quarter — or YouTube, but its rise has demonstrated there’s a market for scripted storytelling in bite-sized episodes. Owl’s report focused on the industry outside China, where a state regulator estimated the market stands at about $7 billion.
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Short-form scripted shows have existed for a long time, but have been generally ignored by the big Hollywood studios and major streaming platforms because the economics didn’t support the format. The most infamous recent example, Quibi, shut down in six months despite raising $1.75 billion because its high-quality and high-cost scripted series designed for the mobile phone didn’t work as a subscription business.
Quibi isn’t the only reason some in Hollywood are skeptical of the format. It’s not yet clear how these dramas could fit into the traditional film and TV system, which emphasizes high production values and guild-protected talent. Micro dramas are cheap to make and often use non-union talent, costing about $100,000 to $300,000 for a full-length movie, chopped up into 60- to 90-second episodes.
Along with low production values, storylines are often repetitive and exaggerated, and can be problematic. Guys slapping women is a common theme, for instance.
Some of the apps say they want to expand beyond their soap-opera cores to new formats and genres. ReelShort has been exploring shows to appeal to young men and recently made a movie based on Luigi Mangione, while DramaBox said it’s looking at animation and family content.
“We are looking to expand from our current core genres into more diversified categories,” Richard Zhou, DramaBox’s head of global content, recently told Business Insider.
If they can do so effectively remains an open question.
