Vodafone Idea taps into multi-million-dollar micro-drama market

Vi Movies & TV to offer short content free for subscribers in tie-up with OTT player Bullet

Vodafone Idea on Monday partnered with short content streaming platform Bullet to offer the micro-drama over-the-top (OTT) app to its subscribers as part of its Vi Movies & TV service. The move, the first such by a core telecom services provider in India, strengthens its free content portfolio while also tapping into the popular trend of highly watched content that, by several estimates, is a multi-million-dollar industry.

 

Microdramas are a recent phenomenon in India’s interactive media landscape. They are short, serialised, vertical video stories that are built for mobile-first viewing with high-intensity hooks and cliff-hangers. These may range between 30 seconds and 3 minutes. VI said in a statement that India accounted for 11 per cent of global downloads of microdrama platforms in Q1 2025, reaching 35 million. “The microdrama market in India is poised for exponential growth, projected to reach $1.5 billion by 2026 and $4.5 billion by 2030. The growth will be driven by rising adoption in Tier II and Tier III markets, younger audiences, and evolving content consumption habits. With daily watch time of around 40–90 minutes and completion rates exceeding 90 per cent, the category demonstrates strong engagement,” the company said.

 

 

VI subscribers, who can stream a mix of free and premium content from more than 20 OTT platforms, including JioHotstar, SonyLIV, ZEE5, and Amazon MX Player, will now be able to access Bullet’s micro-dramas free of charge. This may not only help the No. 3 carrier get customers to spend more time on the app but potentially draw new customers to its services.

 

While market leaders Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel offer JioTV and Airtel Xstream apps that give free or paid access to multiple platforms for content viewing, they are yet to offer micro-drama content. RIL Group’s OTT platform JioStar recently launched micro-content platform Tadka last month.

 

Lumikai’s State of India Interactive Media Report 2025 reveals that India’s $300 million microdrama market is expected to reach $4.5 billion by 2030, making it the fastest-growing entertainment format. The category is emerging as a rival to OTT platforms with a monthly active user (MAU) base of 100 million compared to OTT’s 450 million. Platforms offering microdramas have clocked 450 million downloads as compared to OTT’s 680 million. The report reveals 17 million paying users on microdramas with an average revenue per user (ARPU) of $15. In comparison, there are 133 million paying users on OTT with an average revenue per user (ARPU) of $35.