The era of the microdrama is here

It’s April 2020. Quibi has officially come onto the scene with its bite-sized, mobile-first, episodic content. In less than seven months, Quibi will be dead.

Fast-forward to May 2026. ReelShort and DramaBox, two microdrama apps, are the most-downloaded video-streaming apps worldwide, beating out Netflix, according to Sensor Tower’s annual State of Mobile report. TikTok is operating PineDrama, a microdrama app; testing a microdrama feed within the TikTok app; and striking deals with Hollywood talent like Issa Rae to create microdrama content. In Tinseltown, current and former legacy TV executives from companies like Showtime, NBCUniversal, Fox Entertainment, and Miramax are investing in and producing microdramas. TelevisaUnivision announced an expanded slate of microdrama programming on its streamer this week after last year’s initial investment delivered more than 1 billion views and has grown nearly 50% quarter over quarter. And in ad land, brands like Maybelline, Crocs, and Starbucks are dabbling in the content format for everything from holiday campaigns to ongoing series.

Today, bite-sized, mobile-first content is all the rage—and the grim reaper is nowhere to be seen.

So what changed in six years? Notably, there was a pandemic. For Quibi, the rise of working from home during the pandemic spelled doom for an app whose programming was meant to be consumed during daily commutes and coffee breaks. Meanwhile, the scrolling addictions developed during lockdown have only compelled users to look for more places to scroll further—and microdramas, with roughly two-minute-long episode lengths, soapy, cliffhanger-framed storylines, and sometimes hundreds of episodes per series, provide plenty of opportunity.

“When I started to look at this, it was the data and the audience behavior trends that I think I’ve been waiting for my whole career in digital,” Scott Brown, CEO of the digital production company Second Rodeo, told us. “People, at the end of the day, love these stories not because there’s a very unique creator behind them, but because they want to know what happens next.”

As with any rising trend, the brands continue to trickle in, exploring how to make their own characters and ultra-short storylines to entertain and entice consumers. But is the microdrama trend worth investing in, as either a content format for ads or a platform to place ads? After all, Quibi had advertisers, too.

Microdrama, macro opportunity?

Currently, the microdrama business is booming. In the US, which is the second-largest market for the genre after China, microdrama revenue reached $819 million in 2024 and is projected to hit $3.8 billion by 2030, per Variety. By the end of this year, industry analyst Omdia predicts that the US will account for half of all microdrama revenue outside China, Deadline reported.

On the production side, at least some of the appeal lies in the form’s lower costs, which, according to producer C. Neil Davenport, can range from $30,000 to more than $300,000 for entire shows—a far cry from the $15 million per episode that full-length series like Game of Thrones have commanded. For advertisers, the format’s natural fit for creator-led casting is an advantage for brands who already have strong relationships with creator partners, or who are willing to experiment with creator talent—brands like MCoBeauty, which made a seven-part microdrama social series starring creator Tana Mongeau earlier this year.

Meridith Rojas, CMO of VidaCorp, MCoBeauty’s parent company, said it was only natural, since it’s proven to be an attractive format to consumers with plenty of entertainment choices.

“As marketers, we now have to think as entertainment executives,” Rojas told us. “We have to think about media as, we’re not strapping you to a chair and forcing you to watch our ad. That’s not the world we live in anymore. If you want your message to land, you need to create something that’s worth watching.”

There is a notable difference though, between what Sean Reed, head of accounts at creative agency Saylor, calls “true microdramas” that can run for hundreds of episodes, and shorter-run serialized content, even if some brands and audiences call it the same thing. While Reed believes the format is here to stay, the way advertisers participate in the trend may be different than what audiences expect.

“[With] true microdramas, the volume of episodes is so high; that’s a massive investment for a brand, especially if they haven’t done something like that [before],” Reed told us. “So do you dip a toe in and do only a few episodes? But then, is that not authentic or true to the format?”

Here for a good time, not a long time

The platforms where brands choose to make or sponsor microdramas can also play a factor in how audiences receive them. While MCoBeauty made its microdrama for Instagram and TikTok audiences, Crocs partnered with ReelShort, a leading microdrama platform in North America, to create Charmed to Meet You, a five-episode show highlighting the brand’s Jibbitz shoe charms. The show also lives on Crocs’s owned social media channels and ReelShort itself, where it was among the top four most popular series on the platform’s daily rankings on Valentine’s Day, according to Crocs.

When advertisers release microdramas on native platforms, “it does feel much more authentic,” Daryl Giannantonio, chief strategy director at VML, said. But doing so can also present some unique challenges. Audience expectations on Instagram, for example, may be different than within a microdrama app, where an advertiser presence may be less welcome if the entertainment value isn’t there.

“You have to realize the role and why people are engaging with you is the content, and the brand is present, but it can’t be so in-your-face that it feels like I am advertising to you,” Giannantonio told us. “That’s where brands have to get the balance right.”

As microdramas continue to evolve in the US, there’s an opportunity for the entertainment and ad industries to push the genre forward. For creatives like Brown, aiming high in elements like cinematography, writing, execution, and ambition in storytelling in an effort to elevate the form to more prestigious levels is a major goal, which he believes will ultimately lead to greater success for creators and platforms.

Brands, though, may see the microdrama as still emerging, Giannantonio said, which may mean the genre remains a bit of a testing ground for now. Importantly, she doesn’t see any long-term risk for brands looking to try out the format and dabble in a unique engagement loop, even if it turns out to be a Quibi-like passing moment.

“I don’t think it’s damaging for a brand if [microdramas are] something that people engage with and then it goes away in a little bit,” Giannantonio said. “As long as the experience in the moment was positive.”