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It's TV for the TikTok generation: vertiginous rise of 'vertical dramas'
The Guardian
|April 05, 2025
Found a Homeless Billionaire Husband for Christmas. The Quarterback Next Door. Revenge of the XXL Wife. My Secret Agent Husband.
These may sound like cringe-worthy fantasies, but they're actually titles of "vertical dramas", a new form of episodic television that's gripping millions around the world.
The genre, which originated in China and has been labelled as "TV for the TikTok generation", consists of minute-long episodes designed specifically for smartphones. It's experienced such a boom that the market is predicted to be worth $14bn (£11bn) by 2027.
Duanju, Chinese for micro-drama, began its life on social media. Chinese companies are now working with foreign production companies to export the format, buoyed by new streaming apps such as ReelShort, ShortTV, DramaPops and FlexTV.
Last November, the California-based, Chinese-backed ReelShort overtook TikTok as the most popular product in the entertainment section of Apple's app store in the US, and has been downloaded more than 30m times since its launch in 2022.
"Some people said, 'I can't believe someone would pay for this,' Joey Jia, CEO of Crazy Maple Studio, the company behind ReelShort, told the Washington Post. "Our answer is: You think you understand the entire entertainment market? You don't."
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