Duanju

Okay.

And I'm going to talk about micro dramas later in this podcast.

I

am too.

I think.

Okay, I think we're going to see a further expansion of micro dramas into a longer, which I know we already get it with TikTok, like there's multi-series micro dramas.

I don't really watch micro dramas, but that's going to continue to expand probably into Instagram a little bit more.

So something to keep tabs on.

Romero's Night of the Living Dead is getting a micro-drama adaption.

Microdramas are a short-form scripted series designed primarily to be watched on smartphones.

Midnight Radio, a nine-episode scripted podcast about the supernatural with Ethan Hawke, premiered October 22nd, just last week.

You can find it on iHeart Podcasts.

Now, we live in an attention economy where social media platforms are vying for our attention with addictive content.

Microdramas and AI microdramas have joined the party.

Now, Johnny Chan is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Business and Economics at Auckland Universities, and he's been looking into why they're so compelling.

Kia ora, Johnny.

long time, Maria Rua Aguate of Omdia, who is, again, one of the global international premium, if not the media and entertainment analyst.

And she has been talking about microdramas for 18 months now.

And we've had many discussions about it.

And it's fascinating.

But it's there to deliver something that is a discipline that comes from gaming, which is addictive consumption and the ability to actually monetize that consumption over a long period of time.

And many of it's The way it's formatted is based on gaming rather than on traditional content for broadcast or streaming.

So she gave a number of talks about microdramas, which made the headlines.

And her main conclusion is that vertical is no longer optional and that the biggest challenge facing the industry is streaming.

I think, is there a technology? Is there something in the advertising space that you are generally just intrigued by and follow along with and want to see how it develops?

I'm really interested in how vertical video and micro dramas are evolving.

We're seeing that come to life, really blossoming out of some of the Asian markets.

And I think I'm really intrigued by that.

And I've had a couple of conversations around it, specifically with there's different types of live sports, right? Like there's the world championship, which is going to be unbelievable.

Then there's the live sports of maybe an unknown college team.

or not a very popular college team? And how do you value the inventory there and the audiences there? And how is that done programmatically in the right way to yield the most revenue? But the one that you brought up that nobody's brought up is the micro dramas.

Like it's actually really interesting because I'm kind of a nerd and the micro dramas are actually very similar to like in-game purchases where sometimes you're teased with content and you hit a paywall you have to pay or you subscribe to it and then you have to watch ads to some degree but nobody's actually brought that up in 150 something episodes because i think it's still very much so new and also like yeah difficult it's difficult to monetize but someone's gonna nail it

Similarly, the UK's financial regulator, FCA, is applying existing principles-based frameworks to AI use cases, demanding that firms monitor outcomes and defend algorithmic decisions within existing accountability structures, underscoring that AI adoption is more a governance challenge than a technology one.

Microdramas and YouTube-led content strategy Content strategy is evolving rapidly with new formats and platforms commanding audience attention.

Microdramas, 60-92nd, sensational, episodes, are projected to be a US$14 billion global market in 2026, with 50% of Australian internet users aged 18-64 watching them in Q3 2026, primarily on social media.

This highlights a growing consumer appetite for bite-sized, addictive narratives.

Simultaneously, YouTube retention is becoming a critical metric, driving algorithm distribution and business outcomes, with TV viewership on the platform increasing over 60% in the past year, indicating a shift towards focused audience attention.

Everything's changing.

Microdramas today."

Okay.

I'm, I'm with you.

So my question is this.

Microdramas, okay? This has been a form of entertainment that's blowing up out of Asia.

So they basically take like one or two hours worth of content.

They split it up in like 30 to 60 episodes of two minutes each.

Yeah,

look at what's happening with microdramas.

Microdramas started out being short form, vertical, you know, 30, 60 second.

The scenes ended up being like little episodes.

And then they started shooting it with AI.