Short dramas targeting the general public are more eager for new growth.

In 2025, the short - drama industry entered the "second half" where high - quality content and platform ecosystem determine success. Going global, AI comic dramas, and the sinking market have become the three major growth areas, while AI and IP are reshaping the future battle situation.

Currently, the short - drama industry remains the most fiercely competitive and fastest - evolving sector in the market. Speed is its core characteristic. However, focusing on short dramas in 2025, amidst the industry's development rhythm characterized by "rapid iteration", the refinement of production and content has also become an industry consensus and the direction for creators to strive for.

In terms of content, many high - quality short dramas such as What a Good Girl, Inside and Outside the Family, The 18 - year - old Great - grandmother, and Summer Fendra have not only broken through the circle with innovative narratives and movie - level production but also demonstrated the short - drama industry's star - making ability comparable to that of long - form dramas.

The industry structure was also established in 2025. Hongguo became the platform with the widest coverage in the short - drama market through ecological integration. With a daily active user count of nearly 250 million, it surpassed Bilibili and Youku, becoming the most cutting - edge content TV station at present. Under the stable platform ecosystem and the trend of high - quality content driven by the free model, a group of leading short - drama production teams with the ability to create blockbusters, such as Tinghua Island, Horse Stable Studio, Yujin Wuliang, and Baichuan Chinese, began to build brand recognition among C - end users and initiated the competition in the "second half of the short - drama era" with original IPs and IP serialization.

Meanwhile, as the blockbuster works of leading brands continuously occupy market space and content platforms constantly seek new growth points, more small and medium - sized short - drama companies have shifted their focus during the market segmentation process. Going global, AI comic dramas, and sinking short dramas have become the three core growth markets. In the foreseeable future, AI technology will continue to be applied from comic dramas to live - action dramas, bringing a more long - lasting and profound empowerment to the short - drama industry.

Truly Achieving Popularization and High - quality

Since 2025, the most obvious changes in the short - drama industry are the expanding user base and the growing cross - circle influence. Short dramas have truly reached the general public and become the mainstream entertainment consumption content. This is mainly reflected in the following three aspects:

First, the increase in the scale of short - drama users. According to QuestMobile data, as of September 2025, Hongguo ranked fourth among the top ten online video apps in terms of monthly active users (MAU), only behind Tencent Video, iQiyi, and Tencent Penguin Pictures.

Second, the single - drama playback volume has continuously refreshed industry records. In 2025, the single - drama playback volume on the Hongguo platform alone successively exceeded 1 billion, 2 billion, and 3 billion views. If we define a blockbuster as a drama with over 1 billion views, there were a total of 61 blockbuster works in 2025. Among them, representative works like What a Good Girl, Inside and Outside the Family, The 18 - year - old Great - grandmother, and Summer Fendra all achieved significant popularity.

Third, due to the enhanced influence of short dramas, they have demonstrated a star - making ability comparable to that of long - form dramas. Actors have become more popular, and the star effect and even fan - club culture have begun to emerge in the short - drama field. The "Short - drama F4" represented by Ke Chun, Ma Xiaoyu, He Jianqi, and Zeng Hui, Liu Xiaoxu, who became well - known for his "Uncle Kid" image in Summer Fendra, and Li Keyi, who gained 500,000 followers in a week because of the "18 - year - old Great - grandmother" character, are all typical examples.

At the underlying level, the high - quality development of short dramas, including increased production costs, innovation in values and character relationships, and breakthroughs in aesthetic styles, are the three main reasons for short dramas to reach the general public. This is also the most prominent feature of current short - drama content.

First, the increase in production costs is the most direct manifestation of high - quality development. The 2025 Short - drama Industry Development Report shows that the average production cost of short dramas increased by 30% to 50% throughout the year, and million - level investments have become the standard for leading projects.

Second is the innovation in values and character relationships, which emerged along with the free model of short dramas. Under the free model, screenwriters no longer focus on creating hooks but start to concentrate on the smoothness and appeal of the plot. As a result, the sense of thrill has faded, and emotions have taken the stage.

This has not only attracted a large number of female users to the short - drama ecosystem but also reshaped the content genes of short dramas: from the thrill of counter - attack and revenge to emotional details in relationships such as emotional tug - of - war and mutual redemption. The "way people connect with each other" is also constantly evolving.

For example, What a Good Girl places female self - rescue and a strong - to - strong relationship at the center of the narrative, meeting the audience's expectations for new intimate relationships and female - centered plots. Works like Inside and Outside the Family and The 18 - year - old Great - grandmother Comes to Restore the Family Glory focus on "family symbiosis". What the audience watches is how a family collaborates for win - win results and how they jointly fight against fate.

Meanwhile, although the market influence of male - oriented short dramas is relatively smaller than that of female - oriented ones, in some high - quality male - oriented short dramas like A Commoner of the First Rank and Assuming the Name of Langya produced by Gewuzhizhi, there have also been innovations in narrative and character relationships.

A Commoner of the First Rank tells the story of a small character's struggle and survival in a chaotic world and a historical context, presenting an individual growth narrative. It is hailed as the "Nirvana in Fire" of the short - drama industry. In Assuming the Name of Langya, the male protagonist does not rely on cheats to solve problems but shows the game in the court through solid historical knowledge, reconstructing the logic of the sense of thrill in male - oriented short dramas.

After its launch, this "refreshing short drama" quickly went viral on social media. The topic "#Fendra Aesthetics#" on Douyin had over 500,000 discussions. Famous scenes such as the bathtub kiss, kneeling in the ancestral hall for punishment, and the blue - light kiss in the tunnel spread like wildfire across the internet. Famous lines like "Happy New Year" and "Clumsily Cooking Noodles" from the drama also became internet buzzwords.

Industry Structure Established

Focusing on the industry relationship dimension, in 2025, the short - drama industry has emerged from the era of extensive competition. Both platform providers and production companies/leading brands have established a relatively clear and stable industry structure.

In terms of platforms, Hongguo has become the most important short - drama platform with the greatest industry influence and market coverage.

In 2025, Hongguo further streamlined its content resources and production elements within the ecosystem. Specific measures included establishing a script platform, increasing screenwriter revenue sharing and minimum guarantees, and getting involved in actor base salaries and revenue sharing. On May 29th, Douyin Group also established the "Short - drama Copyright Center" with a central - platform nature to integrate relevant teams for Douyin short dramas and Hongguo short dramas.

The strong influence of its ecosystem has brought about two important changes. First, the competition pattern among short - drama platforms is a thing of the past. Platforms such as Jiuzhou and Dianzhong, which originally focused on paid short dramas, have started to participate in Hongguo's content system as IP suppliers and distributors. How to handle the relationship with Hongguo's ecosystem has become the core issue that most short - drama companies need to consider.

Second, due to the stable platform and the clear trend of high - quality content, the core driving force for blockbuster content has shifted from traffic investment to content. Content creation ability has become more important than traffic investment ability.

As a result, a group of leading brands such as Tinghua Island, Horse Stable Studio, and Baichuan Chinese have begun to stand out in the market due to their high - quality and diverse content. They have developed their own distinct brand characteristics and have established relatively clear recognition among C - end users.

For example, Tinghua Island is best known for its consistent ability to produce blockbusters. Horse Stable Studio has become a highly recognizable art - house brand in the short - drama industry through the cross - circle hit Summer Fendra. Works under its banner, including Fortunately Met in Divorce, have received widespread attention for their delicate and aesthetic style. In addition, Baichuan Chinese has also evolved in the second half of the short - drama era. Starting from male - oriented paid short dramas on mini - programs, it has successfully achieved serial blockbuster operations with Yunmiao.

Beyond stylization, due to the popularity of blockbuster short - drama works being mainly attributed to leading actors, short - drama stars have also become more popular. This is a change with both advantages and disadvantages for the industry.

On the one hand, the popularity of actors has become increasingly important for promoting and boosting the popularity of dramas. Leading actors have become the core resources in the short - drama industry. Therefore, for leading short - drama companies and MCNs, signing artists is not only for ensuring content production but has also become a new profit - growth point. For example, CDHOME, a casting company for long - form dramas, established Hengshu Youxi Short - drama Agency. For long - form drama production companies such as Huanyu and Nimeng, short dramas have become a key channel for discovering new talents.

On the other hand, this has also put production companies and platforms under cost pressure from actor salaries. Currently, the quotes of leading short - drama actors are quite high. For example, Ke Chun said in the variety show Infinite Beyond Class 3 that his daily salary was 20,000 yuan, but it is reported that his highest quote after becoming popular has reached 80,000 yuan per day.

Moreover, in terms of industry operation, high actor salaries go against the logic of short dramas, which are characterized by inclusiveness, low entry barriers, and high industrial efficiency. Only by centering on content and production companies can short dramas achieve rapid production and updates. Therefore, leading brands prefer to directly sign actors to control costs and avoid falling into the same old path as long - form dramas. Currently, Tinghua Island has signed leading actors such as Li Keyi, Wang Daotie, Wang Peiyan, Zhao Tingyi, Zeng Hui, and Han Yutong, while Wang Gege, Hou Chengyue, and Liu Xiaoxu have long - term cooperation with Horse Stable Studio.

Seeking New Growth in the Sinking Market, Going Global, and AI Comic Dramas

In 2025, on the one hand, the short - drama market has become saturated, and the traffic dividend is gradually waning. On the other hand, the competition for high - quality content has squeezed the market space, and the Matthew effect of leading brands has become more prominent. Therefore, platforms have started to actively seek new growth points, and short - drama practitioners have also turned their attention to other tracks to explore new market opportunities. The sinking market, going global, and AI comic dramas have become three emerging business directions.

The first half of 2025 was the period when the short - drama industry had the strongest momentum for going global.

There are two main reasons for this. First, at the end of 2023, ReelShort topped the free entertainment list on the US iOS App Store. Driven by the rumor of "earning hundreds of millions of dollars a day", its parent company, Chinese Online, had multiple daily limit - up trading days, which triggered the wave of short - drama going global. Second, in the past two years, giants such as ByteDance have continuously squeezed the domestic short - drama market space, while there is no monopoly - style platform overseas. By the first half of 2025, going global had become a growth market that the entire industry was collectively concerned about.

ByteDance, Chinese Online, Maiya, and more mini - program short - drama companies, as well as online literature and game companies, have all joined the camp of short - drama going global. ByteDance launched the free - model short - drama platform Melolo targeting the Southeast Asian market in November 2024 and launched the paid short - drama app PikoShow focusing on the Japanese market at the beginning of 2025, which attracted significant market attention.

Overall, according to data on overseas short - drama versions provided by DataEye - ADX, by February 2025, the number of overseas short - drama apps being promoted had reached 231, nearly four times that of the same period in 2024.

However, later these practitioners found that short - drama going global requires a large amount of capital investment and long - term market cultivation, whether it is in traffic investment for user acquisition through "burning money", localized production, or achieving high - quality content breakthroughs. This has led to a very high risk for many overseas - going companies without strong parent - company support. Therefore, after the market dividend quickly disappeared, the topic of going global has gradually faded from the spotlight since the first half of 2025.

In the second half of 2025, AI comic dramas became the hottest content keyword in the market.

AI comic dramas evolved from dynamic comics and have survived in the "niche" between vertical comic platforms and long - video platforms for nearly a decade. They are not a new category. The core reason for their explosion is AI technology, which has solved the problems of cost and production capacity that dynamic comics previously faced.

By the second half of 2025, the average industry cost of comic dramas had dropped to 100,000 - 150,000 yuan per drama, one - fifth to one - tenth of the cost of previous dynamic comics. The profit per drama ranges from hundreds of thousands to millions of yuan. Moreover, according to the judgment of many practitioners, with technological iteration, it is expected that truly high - level AI comic dramas comparable to animated series will be produced in the future, potentially leveraging a market worth billions of yuan.

For content providers, entering the comic - drama market is also a consideration for exploring market growth. Currently, the core content providers in the comic - drama industry, such as Jiangyou Animation and Lingju Animation, have transformed from the highly competitive live - action short - drama market. With the rapid development of the comic - drama market, these companies have achieved a scale of one thousand employees and a monthly production of one hundred dramas within a year.

With advantages such as lower production costs, a younger user group, and higher payment efficiency, AI comic dramas have become a new vertical category that platforms such as ByteDance, Tencent, and Yuewen, as well as a large number of production companies, are most concerned about and continue to invest in.

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