Mr Viral
ByteDance has recently established an overseas short drama business team and is recruiting relevant personnel in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and other locations, including positions such as short drama product managers, short drama operations staff, and short drama scriptwriters.
ByteDance has also launched an overseas short drama app called “Melolo,” emphasizing a free model, marking ByteDance’s first short drama product to go abroad. The person in charge of the app stated that the product was launched in mid-November 2024 in markets such as Indonesia and the Philippines, providing free short drama resources to meet the viewing needs of overseas users. Currently, the related business is in the stage of exploration and expansion.
The app is not yet available in the North American Apple Store, but it can be searched and downloaded from the Google Play Store.
The overseas short drama market has become a fiercely contested battleground, with domestic leading short drama companies such as Dianzhong, Jiuzhou, Shanhai, and Maiya all launching short drama apps overseas. Currently, the daily revenue of leading overseas short drama apps has exceeded $1 million, and the entire market size is expected to quickly reach $10 billion, on par with the current domestic market size.
In November last year, foreign media reported that, thanks to the success of short dramas in China, TikTok is considering incorporating similar mini-drama content to attract more users overseas.
According to the “China Micro Short Drama Industry Development White Paper (2024),” as of June 2024, China’s micro short drama user base has reached 576 million, accounting for 52.4% of the overall internet users. The micro short drama industry has entered a period of transformation and upgrade, officially entering the 2.0 era.
The industry’s volume is steadily increasing, with user base, market size, number of industry institutions, and content supply all reaching new highs. Production methods and business models have also undergone fundamental changes.
With the continued rise in popularity of micro short dramas, the market size is expected to surpass mainland box office revenue for the first time in 2024. Industry estimates suggest that the market size of China’s micro short drama market in 2024 will reach 50.44 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 34.90%, while the total annual box office revenue of mainland films is estimated to be 47 billion yuan.
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