The "micro-drama" trend, originating in Asia and known as vertically formatted mobile fictional series lasting only one to one and a half minutes, has started to be widely discussed in the Dutch media industry. Industry representatives are showing great interest in this innovative format as they determine their future strategies and new content formats. Although no concrete production based in the Netherlands has been released yet, it is thought to be only a matter of time. Media consultant Jonatan de Boer predicts that local broadcasters will soon start experimenting with this format and producing their own micro-drama content. Users' increasingly growing mobile content consumption habits are also among the main reasons for this interest.
Looking at the United States is sufficient to understand what kind of global impact this new and popular content type has created. At the VidCon conference held in the USA in June, the micro-drama phenomenon was discussed in detail at a panel led by Jonatan de Boer. Every month, tens of millions of viewers in the USA watch these short and addictive series on their phones. Social media giant TikTok has decided not to see this format merely as an entertainment tool, but to use it as a powerful advertising medium for brands. This shows that micro-dramas are building a strong connection not only with audiences but also with advertisers.
The commercial success brought by the micro-drama industry is not escaping the notice of traditional media companies either. The fact that this sector is expected to generate a revenue of approximately eleven billion dollars worldwide in 2025 alone is proof of how massive the market is. World-renowned giant companies such as Disney, Google, and Fox, wanting to get a slice of this massive pie, have also started to make serious investments in the industry. The core of the business model consists of each episode of short vertical videos ending with an exciting conclusion, namely a "cliffhanger," which encourages the viewer to pay to watch the next episode. Content becoming paid to access after the first few free episodes are offered turns this format into a highly profitable mechanism that generates direct revenue.
Despite this, some intellectual debates are taking place among industry experts regarding the future and business model of micro-dramas. Jonatan de Boer raises important questions about whether the micro-drama is a standalone independent product or a feature embedded within existing platforms. In the Chinese model, content is broadcast through custom-designed standalone apps, but due to the saturation of the app market, acquiring and retaining new users has become extremely costly. Considering that the advertising budget spent to attract a new paid user ranges between twenty and thirty euros, it is obvious that it leaves a serious lower limit for profit. In light of these sustainability problems, De Boer argues that the micro-drama is not a new product, but actually a new genre and form of storytelling.
The adoption of the micro-drama as a genre offers brand new opportunities to established giant players such as Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. For example, the micro-thriller series "Screen Time" released by Hollywood producer Issa Rae via TikTok, reached nearly 75 million views in just its first week. While Netflix is experimenting with vertical feeds to promote its existing content, it is rumored that Amazon's Prime Video platform is working on special tabs called "Shorts" or "Minis" in the background. De Boer predicts that this global trend will also affect Dutch local media players such as NPO Start and Videoland, and that they will update their strategies accordingly. Developments reveal that, despite experiencing subscription fatigue, audiences are highly willing to pay for vertical, short, and intriguing fictional content.
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