Is drama "Tiktok-ified"? Short plays no longer than 2 minutes are in trend! Market size exceeds US$ 6.6 billion

Have you seen "Short Play"? This is a trend set off by China's entertainment industry in recent years, and has even expanded its impact on the local entertainment and advertising markets in Japan and the United States. The length of these short plays is usually no more than 2 minutes, making them suitable for quick viewing on mobile devices such as mobile phones. The entire series contains 20 to 100 episodes, and the scripts are mostly sourced from online novels, covering various themes such as love and science fiction.

For example, "I Became a Stepmother in the 1980s" is adapted from the novel "A Beautiful Stepmother in the 1980s Married a Factory Director to Raise a Baby" by Chinese Internet writer Huo Beishan. The story describes a modern female college student who traveled to the 1980s. Married to a divorced pig farm owner with children, the plot is popular and popular with female audiences. It is one of the popular short dramas in 2024.

The "Tiktokified" of dramas is more suitable for the fragmented viewing needs of mobile phones

"Short dramas are a product born in response to the new viewing mode brought by mobile devices (such as mobile phones)," said Professor Ye Yueyu, Dean of the School of Arts and Director of the Center for Film and Television Creative Industries at Lingnan University in China. "The shrinking of the interface also means that the content The miniaturization can be called TikTokization."

Compared with traditional TV series, which originally had at least 40 minutes per episode, short dramas are more suitable for the fragmented viewing needs of daily swiping on mobile phones, making it easier for people who cannot spare a long time to watch dramas.

Moreover, the advantage brought by the short time is that the production cost is low and the completion speed is extremely high. "Nikkei Asia" pointed out that each drama only takes 7 to 10 days to complete, and the cost is between 300,000 and 500,000 Chinese yuan, but it can create extremely high profits after the viral spread of short video platforms such as TikTok , bringing in revenue of more than 100 million Chinese yuan (approximately US$ 13 million).

Ashley Dudarenok, founder of Chinese consulting agency ChoZan said in an interview with the American entertainment weekly "Variety" that "lower production costs and thresholds promote creative experimentation and innovation, coupled with the mobile device-oriented distribution strategy, it is in line with the audience's demand for portable movies." Entertainment preferences. "Trends plus trends are the foundation for the success of short plays.

The market value of Chinese short dramas has surged, accounting for 70% of the film market

The market value of China's short drama market will reach 37.39 billion Chinese yuan in 2023, an annual increase of 267.65%, and it has quickly become popular. The market value is equivalent to 70% of the Chinese film market. According to estimates by "Nikkei Chinese Network", as of the first half of 2024, the total number of short dramas on TikTok has exceeded 72.7 billion times, and the market size is expected to reach 48.4 billion Chinese yuan (approximately US$ 6.6 billion), with annual growth reaching 35 %. iResearch predicts that this market size will double in 2028.

The sales strategies adopted by the profitable platform are indispensable. It is a relatively difficult goal to make the audience willing to pay for content, so there are many short dramas that are free to watch for the first 10 to 20 episodes, and then unlocked by paying, allowing the audience to pay for the content they want to watch. "Variety" mentioned that the viewing fee for each drama can be up to US$ 20 or more.

He Zexi, head of overseas business of Chinese short drama production company Jiuzhou Culture, once said that China's short drama platforms have flexible and diverse payment mechanisms, such as subscription systems or charging based on the number of episodes, which provide sales advantages for short dramas.

This craze has attracted Chinese technology giants such as Tencent and Baidu, as well as well-known actor Stephen Chow, to invest in short dramas. Foreign commercial chain brands also use short plays to promote marketing. For example, Starbucks and McDonald's launched short plays on TikTok, which quickly increased their brand attention. After Starbucks launched the short play in August, TikTok fans became more popular within a month. An increase of approximately 20%.

As skits grew in popularity, related industries began to flourish, such as studio services for filming skits. "Nikkei Asia" mentioned that there is an international short video center in Shanghai that can provide short drama crews with a variety of scene designs, such as offices, apartments, hospitals, etc., and even clothing rental services to create short dramas. One-stop service saves creators a lot of preparation time and prop costs.

These trends point out that the short drama market is a form of communication that captures the attention of modern consumers and represents a new blue ocean for the entertainment industry and brand marketing.

Data source: "Nikkei Asia" report, 2024.12.08; Nikkei Asia2; Nikkei Chinese website; Variety