In September, the overseas revenue of short dramas reached 285 million US dollars, and a dark horse saw its downloads surge by 500%.

I. Revenue and Downloads of Overseas Short Drama Market in September

(I) Overseas Estimated Downloads and Revenue

In September 2026, the total estimated downloads of overseas micro short drama apps on two major platforms reached approximately 242 million, down 13.5% month-on-month; the estimated in-app purchase revenue on both platforms was about 285 million US dollars, a slight month-on-month decrease of 1.3%.

The downloads and revenue of overseas micro short drama apps declined simultaneously in September, which is mainly affected by two major factors: First, the pace of market advertising investment slowed down, and the volume of advertising materials for overseas micro short dramas in the month decreased by about 15% compared with August, ending the two consecutive months of growth. Second, the number of new entrants shrank significantly. The total number of apps and web pages in operation this month decreased by about 7% month-on-month, with only 56 new apps and web pages added in the month, the second lowest new volume of the year.

(II) TOP 20 Overseas Micro Short Drama Apps by Downloads and Revenue

In the TOP 20 list of overseas micro short drama apps by downloads in September 2026, ReelShort under Maple Interactive took the top spot, with downloads exceeding 28 million, a 3% month-on-month increase. Dramawave under Kunlun Wanwei dropped to the second place, with monthly downloads exceeding 17 million, a decrease of more than 40% from the previous month. PineDrama, a short drama app launched by TikTok, ranked third, with downloads exceeding 16 million, a slight 6% month-on-month drop. DramaBox ranked fourth with downloads exceeding 16 million, down 24% month-on-month; NetShort under Malt ranked fifth, with downloads exceeding 14 million, down 36% month-on-month.

The downloads of leading micro short drama apps generally declined this month. The total downloads of TOP 20 short drama apps exceeded 180 million, down about 14% month-on-month.

Among the TOP 5 short drama apps, only ReelShort achieved positive growth in downloads. The top ranking of ReelShort in downloads is mainly due to the substantial increase in AI-generated drama content. According to statistics from independent data agency GASP, the proportion of AI content in ReelShort in the third quarter continued to rise: 10% in May, 22% in June, 45% in July, 72% in August, and reached 88% in September. However, the output of live-action filmed dramas on the platform has not shrunk, with a stable monthly output of 10-30 episodes. ReelShort does not replace live-action filming with AI, but relies on AI to expand the overall content supply scale on the basis of stabilizing the basic capacity of live-action content production.

It is worth noting that AI short drama app BlinkDrama has become the biggest dark horse this month, with a very rapid growth momentum. BlinkDrama's downloads this month exceeded 7.8 million, a month-on-month surge of about 500%, and its ranking climbed to 10th, 10 places higher than last month. The explosion of BlinkDrama's downloads may be related to large-scale user acquisition investment. According to DataEye-ADX data, the app launched more than 82,000 sets of materials in September, ranking 9th in the overseas short drama app launch list. Public information shows that BlinkDrama was only launched on the App Store in May this year, which is a typical rising star.

By region, only two Indian local short drama apps, Story TV and QuickTV, entered the TOP 20 download list this month, while Kuku TV dropped out of the TOP 20.

In the TOP 20 list of overseas micro short drama apps by revenue in September 2026, the top five pattern remained stable. DramaBox, NetShort, ReelShort continued to occupy the top 3, and the total revenue of the three products accounted for 45% of the total revenue of the TOP 20.

In terms of ranking changes, FlickReels under Zhangwan had a revenue of nearly 8 million US dollars this month, with a 34% month-on-month increase. The platform launched hit short dramas such as the baby redemption drama Fifty Cents to Find My Billionaire Dad, emotional theme Testing Love: Married to a Crippled Billionaire, hidden rich theme Married to a Hidden Fortune this month, which effectively drove a substantial increase in revenue.

The two products StoryReel and VibeShort focusing on AI short dramas continued to rank in the TOP 10, among which StoryReel's in-app purchase revenue exceeded 10 million US dollars, with a month-on-month increase of about 25%, ranking 7th on the list; VibeShort's monthly in-app purchase revenue exceeded 9 million US dollars, with a month-on-month increase of about 6%, ranking 8th, and the two apps have outstanding growth momentum.

In terms of overseas local short drama apps, four products Inkitt CandyJar (Germany), Vigloo (South Korea), My Drama (Ukraine), Shortical (Israel) were shortlisted in the TOP 20 revenue list, ranking 14th, 16th, 17th and 19th respectively.

Compared with last month, the overall performance of overseas local short drama apps was sluggish this month. By product, the revenue of South Korea's Vigloo dropped sharply this month, with a month-on-month decrease of nearly 60%; the revenue of Germany's Inkitt CandyJar and Israel's Shortical was basically flat month-on-month; the revenue of Ukraine's My Drama continued the downward trend, down about 17% month-on-month this month.

A total of 7 apps had in-app purchase revenue exceeding 10 million US dollars this month, 2 more than last month. Both ShortMax and StoryReel crossed the 10 million US dollar revenue threshold this month, newly entering the 10 million US dollar revenue echelon.

(III) Revenue and Downloads in Key Regions

In the estimated dual-platform revenue of the overseas micro short drama market in September, the United States took a steep lead with a result of nearly 80 million US dollars, followed by markets such as Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Australia.

In terms of revenue share, the United States contributed about 28% of the market share, Japan accounted for about 6.7%, the United Kingdom ranked third with about 4.3%, the South Korean market accounted for about 4.09% ranking fourth; Australia accounted for 4.08% ranking fifth, and the total share of the TOP5 markets was about 47%.

In terms of the contribution of leading regions, the total share of the TOP10 markets by revenue in September was about 61.3%, a slight decrease from August, and paying users are highly concentrated in leading countries.

In terms of downloads, the overseas micro short drama market presents a highly concentrated pattern, and demographic dividend is still the core means to obtain incremental users at present. Among the estimated dual-platform downloads of overseas micro short dramas in September 2026, Indonesia returned to the first place with downloads exceeding 30 million; India ranked second with downloads exceeding 29 million; Brazil, the United States, and the Philippines ranked third, fourth, and fifth respectively.

In terms of market share, Indonesia accounts for 12.6%, India 12.2%, Brazil 11.1%, the United States 9.7%, and the Philippines 6.9%. The top five markets contribute a total of about 53% of downloads, and the share of other individual markets does not exceed 5%.

The TOP10 markets by downloads in September are basically the same as those in August. This month, Argentina overtook Turkey to rank in the TOP10, accounting for about 1.7%. Three South American countries, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina, were all shortlisted in the top ten, with a total share of 15.6%, an increase of 2.4 percentage points month-on-month from August.

II. Overview of Overseas Short Drama Market Investment in September

(I) Number of Running Materials: Monthly Launch Volume Drops to 5.25 Million Sets, Down 15% Month-on-Month

According to DataEye-ADX Overseas Short Drama Version data, in September 2026, the volume of advertising materials in the overseas micro short drama market dropped back to 5.25 million, down about 15% from August, ending the previous two consecutive months of growth.

The month-on-month decline in the volume of overseas launched materials this month is mainly due to: First, the number of new apps and web pages in the month dropped by nearly 70% compared with August; second, AI short dramas and comic dramas have become the main force of overseas launch, and the total volume of materials launched in this track this month decreased by about 15% month-on-month compared with August.

(II) Running Apps and Web Pages: A Total of 1192, Down 7% Month-on-Month

According to statistics from DataEye-ADX Overseas Short Drama Version, in September 2026, the total number of running apps and web pages for overseas micro short dramas reached 1192, down about 7% month-on-month, and 56 new apps and web pages were added in the month, a sharp drop of about 69% compared with August. The new volume this month is the second lowest value of the year, only higher than that in February (36 units).

Since Q2, driven by the upsurge of AI short dramas going overseas, the overseas micro short drama market has continued to heat up. The total number of running apps and web pages in the track has exceeded 1000, of which more than 1200 in July and August, with strong growth momentum on the supply side.

From the perspective of monetization type, the micro short drama apps and web pages with monthly launched materials ≥ 100 sets are still dominated by two monetization modes: IAP (in-app purchase only) and IAAP (free + in-app purchase), the total proportion of the two is nearly 80%, which is basically the same as last month. Pure free IAA products that rely only on advertising monetization account for a relatively low proportion for the time being, and have not yet become the mainstream monetization mode in the industry.

Specifically, the number of IAP products rose from 224 to 220, a slight 2% month-on-month decrease; the number of IAAP products rose from 341 to 353, a 4% month-on-month increase; the number of IAA products rose from 142 to 154, an 8% month-on-month increase, the fastest growth rate.

With the mass going overseas of AI short dramas and comic dramas, the content production cost has dropped significantly and the production capacity has been released rapidly. The platform can supply a huge amount of content at low cost, supporting the large-scale operation of free and mixed monetization modes.

Referring to the development path of the domestic market, the share of free and mixed monetization products will continue to expand in the future, gradually squeezing the living space of pure in-app purchase products, and the overall monetization structure of the industry will continue to diversify.

(III) Popular Themes: The Volume of AI Drama/Comic Drama Launch Materials Exceeds 2 Million

Data from DataEye-ADX Overseas Short Drama Version shows that among the popular launch themes of overseas micro short dramas in September, the proportion of female-oriented materials reached 48%, and the proportion of male-oriented materials reached 52%, and the male-oriented launch share continued to increase by 4 percentage points compared with last month.