Mini Soap Operas Turn into a $1.3 Billion Venture in the US

Short dramas packed with tantalizing themes, from misbehaving billionaires to werewolf romances, have become a lucrative enterprise.

These mobile-centric series have recently garnered significant interest from Hollywood, and there's an insightful report from streaming adviser Owl & Co. explaining the phenomenon. These quick-view drama apps are on course to generate a robust $3 billion in global revenues this year, excluding Chinese markets, as predicted by Owl & Co, tripling last year's earnings.

According to Owl, a substantial 75% of this income is derived from viewer subscriptions, initiated after a complimentary viewing of several episodes. Advertising revenue covers most of the rest.

Though this trend, initially successful in Asia, pales next to streaming powerhouses like Netflix and YouTube, its growth indicates a niche for micro-episode scripted tales. Owl's insights are based on markets excluding China, where industry evaluations suggest a market worth of $7 billion.

Contextual Overview

While brief scripted content has been around, major Hollywood entities and leading streaming services often overlooked them due to unattainable economic prospects. A vivid example includes the swift closure of Quibi, despite securing $1.75 billion in investments, as its intricate short series failed commercially.

Hollywood continues to scrutinize these dramas for their uncertain integration into traditional film and TV standards focused on high production quality and unionized talent. These shorter dramas typically involve economical production methodologies, often utilizing non-union actors, with full films crafted for $100,000 to $300,000 and then split into very brief episodes.

In addition to often basic production quality, the plots tend to be repetitive and exaggerated, sometimes including controversial themes like male characters hitting women.

Many app creators are aspiring to diversify their offerings beyond their current most favored genres. ReelShort, for instance, is venturing into productions targeting young male audiences and has recently adapted a film inspired by Luigi Mangione. DramaBox is contemplating exploring animated and family-oriented material.

Richard Zhou, global content lead for DramaBox, stated, "Our goal is to branch out from our central genres into a broader array of categories."