The Big Short: Micro-dramas grow into $8 bn global business led by China

Micro-dramas are now a $26 bn global business, with China leading at $9.4 bn. India's start-ups are entering the race but the market size remains undefined

Micro-dramas are now a $8 billion global business, and China is where the main action is. It is the biggest micro-drama market in the world, with $7 billion in advertising and pay revenues from the genre in 2024.  More than 830 million Chinese consume multiple seasons of these 2-3-minute episodes on ByteDance (Red Fruit), Tencent (WeChat Video Accounts), and Kuaishou (Xi Fan). Over 60 per cent pay, and the genre is very mainstream.  By the year-end, micro-dramas will overtake the domestic box-office in China, according to a report from Media Partners Asia. The US and Japan are the other major markets. While micro-dramas have taken off in India, with players like Flick TV, Reel Saga, and Chai Shots having raised between $2 million and $5 million (₹17 crore and ₹45 crore) each this year to build their micro-drama businesses, there has been no sizing of the market.