by Song Jianan

Chinese micro dramas are capturing the attention of an increasing number of American viewers. According to a report by CCTV Finance on January 21, exporting micro dramas has become a new trend in China's cultural industry. As of August 2024, U.S. revenue from top overseas micro drama apps reached $151 million, accounting for 64.8% of total income, making the United States the most significant overseas market for Chinese micro dramas.

This growing interest is supported by the success of several Chinese micro drama platforms. For instance, ReelShort, a subsidiary of COL Group, topped the U.S. iOS entertainment free chart, with the U.S. contributing over 60% of its revenue. Similarly, DramaBox, developed by Beijing Dianzhong Technology, performed strongly in 2024, with projected global revenue reaching $147 million.

Meanwhile, ShortMax, under JiuZhou Culture, boasts over 30 million monthly active users and tailors content to local tastes in multiple regions. Joining these efforts, ByteDance launched its micro drama app Melolo in November 2024 in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Melolo provides free content through partnerships and original productions, offering genres such as romance, CEO dramas, comebacks, suspense, and historical themes.

Thirteen Chinese-origin apps tailored for global audiences each earned over $1 million in monthly in-app purchases in 2024, with total revenue projected to exceed $100 million per month. As these platforms expand, the financial impact of micro dramas continues to grow. China's online micro drama market reached 37.39 billion yuan (about  5.15 billion dollars) in 2023, growing 267.65% year-on-year, according to iiMedia Research. By 2027, the market is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan.

The success of Chinese micro dramas can be attributed to several key factors. Their fast-paced plots and emotionally engaging content quickly capture viewers' attention, while lower production costs make them more competitive than international counterparts. Years of developing and curating Chinese online novels and serialized fiction have provided a wealth of creative material and intellectual property for micro dramas. However, these advantages come with challenges. High marketing costs in overseas markets, strict content review and compliance requirements, and competition from established local content platforms all pose hurdles for further growth.

Looking ahead, AI is expected to play a transformative role in the future of micro dramas. By enhancing efficiency in creation, translation, and dubbing, AI will likely enable Chinese creators to produce even more compelling content for global audiences. Analysts believe that as global users increasingly pay for entertainment, the micro drama market has the potential to grow into a multi-billion-dollar industry in the coming years.