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With attention spans shorter than a goldfish, India is binge-watching its way to a $5 billion micro-drama craze

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We live in a world where attention is a premium commodity.

According to the latest data on global attention spans, the average human attention span has dropped to approximately 8.25 seconds, lower than a goldfish's nine seconds, highlighting how scarce attention has become.

Screen-based attention has also decreased significantly, falling from 2.5 minutes in 2004 to a mere 47 seconds today. This sharp reduction in viewing time has naturally led audiences to prefer shorter, more concise audiovisual content. In this context, the rising acceptance of short-form videos among audiences is unsurprising.

Among these, micro-dramas - or micro-series - have gained notable popularity, presenting web-series style stories in episodes lasting between one and three minutes. Understanding their growing acceptance requires examining their origins and key drivers.

ORIGINS

The genesis of micro-dramas in India can be traced to the decade between 2010 and 2020, when audiences increasingly embraced short-form video content. TikTok, a prominent early player, introduced viewers to short, visually-rich storytelling. When TikTok exited India in 2020, domestic platforms such as Moj, Chingari, and Josh quickly filled the gap, while global players like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts were already popular.

The Covid-19 pandemic further accelerated this trend, as people confined indoors consumed short videos extensively, supported by affordable internet plans offered by telecom operators.