Micro dramas go mainstream with rise in time spent on apps

From China to the US to now India – the micro drama format has travelled well and become part of the daily life of viewers

MUMBAI: Global news agency Reuters had an eye-catching report earlier this week encapsulating the micro drama boom in the US. The story was captured through the experience of a film producer who decided to rent his production space in downtown LA for occasional music video shoots. However, to his surprise, the facility started getting booked year-round for filming micro dramas, so much so that he opened two more shooting spaces.

Micro dramas go mainstream with rise in time spent on apps

Vertical drama revenues in the US are likely to touch $2 billion soon, according to research firm Omdia, the report said.

From China to the US to now India – the micro drama format has travelled well and become part of the daily life of viewers. Defined by vertical storytelling of one to two minutes per episode, mobile users here are spending more time on this programming format, said a new study by Kantar for the Indian short video app firm that operates QuickTV, ShareChat and Moj. Micro drama is going mainstream. 80% of the people in the Kantar survey said they prefer watching micro dramas on their mobiles, almost on a par with the 81% who said they watch reels and short videos.

Back home, Kantar’s survey debunked the myth that micro dramas are watched only by low-income audiences. 68% of the audience belonged to households earning over ₹10 lakh annually, 64% travelled more than twice a year and 63% owned a home. Though the low-income households picked the trend early, the higher income classes are now joining the party, Kantar study said.

The buzz is huge for a format that’s still nascent, said Vicky Bahri, founder and CEO of the four-months-old micro drama app Klip. “The buzz is loud because the demand for vertical dramas is phenomenal and it is jumping multi-fold,” said the Bollywood producer and director. Mid-2026 data from Sensor Tower said cumulative downloads for short drama apps in India surpassed 800 million. StoryTV from the Eloelo group was the only micro drama app in India’s top 10 downloads rankings.

The Reuters report mentioned that in the US micro dramas are attracting Hollywood actors, writers, directors as well as investments from tech companies and studios. There is similar action in India, evident in deals between Applause Entertainment and StoryTV, and Yash Raj Films and Rusk Media to create short-form content IPs. QuickTV’s Manohar Charan said they are also partnering with a studio to create a slate of shows for its micro drama platforms. Klip said since it’s creating original IPs instead of copying Chinese and Korean shows, it is getting requests for content partnerships from other apps.

Big studios’ interest in the format is understandable. “The business is getting bigger and they are noticing its potential,” Bahri said. Charan said studios are turning to micro dramas as it’s a lower-risk bet unlike theatrical films. “Today, getting audiences to theatres even once a month is a big ask. But you can get a viewer to open a micro drama app on his mobile five times a day,” Charan said. “Also, if a micro drama fails, you lose about ₹25 lakh. The cost of failure of a film is steep,” he added.

The apps are now eyeing the non-Hindi speaking markets. Klip plans to dub its content in four southern languages and in Bengali. QuickTV dabbled in dubbing too but Charan said original content created for southern markets resonates more. Last month, StoryTV announced full-scale expansion into the south with original vertical series in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. It has committed to producing more than 1,000 original micro dramas in southern languages by March 2027, working with writers, filmmakers, actors and creative talent from those states.

Yet the sector isn’t without its struggles. “In India, the population willing to pay for entertainment is very small, though the population willing to be entertained is very large. So, you have to figure out a business model which also services users not willing to pay,” he said. Of India’s 100 million micro drama audiences, only 16 million pay, he added.

To address both paying and non-paying customers, Charan said QuickTV has original IPs and is behind a paywall while the older short-form video apps ShareChat and Moj host micro dramas that are free to watch but interspersed with ads.

Ad-supported models in the micro drama segment are tough as they disengage the audiences who are watching bite-sized content. “We insert the ads carefully and there are other workable monetization models like branded content or even content commerce where you could shop for the articles that you see in a show,” Charan added.

Of the one billion Internet users in China, almost 700 million watch micro dramas where the industry is five years old. “India’s vertical drama audience has reached from 0 to 100 million in a year. We are bound to touch 500-600 million in 5 years. It is just an adoption curve,” said Charan.

Today, the micro drama format matters because it aligns with how audiences watch content, blends short form with convenience and serialized storytelling, captures attention, builds connection and is part of everyday viewing, the Kantar study noted.