Just as netizens were still marveling at the record-breaking box office performance of China's 2024 Spring Festival film season, an even more jaw-dropping piece of news emerged: during the recent Spring Festival holiday, short dramas audaciously carved out a significant slice of the highly anticipated "Spring Festival film season" pie, reportedly seizing a whopping 800 million CNY in market share!
Image Source: Screenshot from Weibo
Among the highlights is the short drama label "Tinghua Island," controlled by Mimi Meng, which released "Being a Stepmom in the 80s" (hereinafter referred to as "Stepmom in the 80s"). The drama broke the 20 million CNY mark in recharge on its launch day; according to the producer Wang Yunxiao, the film was shot in just 10 days with a post-production investment of only 80,000 CNY. Such a high return on investment has once again drawn attention to the short drama industry.
01 Short Dramas "Making a Fortune in Silence," Securing 800 Million in Box Office During the Spring Festival Holiday
This year, alongside the domestic Spring Festival movie box office setting a new record of 8 billion CNY over 8 days, short dramas have also made waves. According to industry media, which synthesized data from multiple platforms, the total consumption on short dramas during this Spring Festival period reached 800 million CNY.
What does 800 million CNY signify? It not only accounted for 10% of the total Spring Festival box office but also exceeded the total box office of the four movies that withdrew from the Spring Festival slot by more than double! (The withdrawn movies include "Shake the Sun Together," "Huang Pi: The Fortune Descends from Heaven," "Zhu Bajie Descends to the Mortal World," and Ning Hao's directed "Mr. Red Carpet" starring Andy Lau)
Image Source: Weibo Screenshot
In the realm of lucrative short dramas, a familiar name has once again emerged—Mi Meng. The short dramas produced by the influential drama label "Listening to Huaidao," such as "Post-80s Stepmom" and "Everyday CEO Pei Longs for His Father and Relies on His Son's Nobility," have become explosive hits during the Spring Festival.
Particularly noteworthy is "Post-80s Stepmom," a short drama that was released on the third day of the Lunar New Year. It is rumored that on the day of its release, it attracted a staggering 20 million CNY in recharges. This astonishing figure is on par with the previously controversial drama "Black Lotus," and it has even propelled the relatively unknown male lead to the top of Weibo's trending topics.
Image source: Screenshot from Weibo
Apart from the short dramas under Mimi Momo, other popular short dramas this spring include "My Dearest" and "Mr. Li, You've Got the Wrong Wife". These shows have daily recharge amounts exceeding 15 million CNY, and "a daily recharge of 15 million CNY" is often used by the industry as a benchmark to judge whether a work is a blockbuster.
Despite the lucrative returns, the production costs of these hit short dramas are far less than those of regular film and television dramas. They keep costs to a minimum by "simplifying production," "using rough costumes, props, and sets," and "casting newcomers." With bizarre plots and a focus on delivering a thrilling experience, they firmly capture their target audience, making viewers "unable to stop watching." This strategy allows them to "sneak attack" and cleanly take away 800 million CNY at the box office without much prior noise.
02 After the removal controversy, the short drama ecosystem "has become more low-key"
However, compared to the wild growth and dominance of the short drama industry in November last year, there has been a noticeable change in the current ecosystem.
Huang He, a producer who started dabbling in short drama production in 2022 and made his first fortune from it, stated that although the removal controversy a few months ago was triggered by the hit dramas "Black Lotus" and "Assistant Li" produced by Mimi Momo's team, its impact has spread to the entire short drama production field.
"After the 'hit drama removal controversy' in November last year, we received several modification requests from platforms, some of which were very strict."
"The first major change was that the online review process has become much stricter. Previously, regulatory focus was on movies, TV dramas, and web series, with no special requirements for short dramas. We joked that we were slipping through the net, but that changed after the 'Black Lotus' incident," said Huang He.
In November 2023, the National Radio and Television Administration issued a regulatory notice to strengthen the management of online short dramas, refine management measures, including developing production and content review guidelines, promoting the inclusion of short drama apps and mini-programs into regular institutional management, establishing a blacklist mechanism, and intensifying the handling and exposure of content that is pornographic, vulgar, bloody, violent, low-brow, or in poor taste.
Image source: Screenshot from Weibo
"Now, platforms are adhering to regulatory requirements more strictly when it comes to reviewing themes and content for short dramas. The previously common themes that glorified revenge, bloodshed, violence, and borderline content are completely off the table now. Platforms are much more cautious about the content they allow online than before, and it's not as easy to get approval."
Huang He's observation is echoed within the industry—Liu Liang (pseudonym), a production manager at a film and TV company in Beijing, mentioned that their company only entered the short drama production field at the end of November last year. In just over three months, they have produced 6 short dramas, totaling over 700 minutes, covering genres like historical costume, domestic intrigue, and school life. "From what we see, although the production and review process for short dramas is still simpler than for traditional movies and TV dramas, and the production cycle is shorter, it's not as 'instant' as previously thought. Platforms are now much more cautious about what content goes online, and there's a clear tightening in the regulation of themes and directions."
"After the wave of delistings, the majority of people in the short drama industry have become more low-key," Huang He said. Previously, not only was there significant promotion before the launch of new dramas, but special posters were also made to celebrate the first-day recharge results of new releases. Now, all these practices have vanished. "Everyone thinks that making money quietly is better than anything else."
Image Source: Weibo screenshot
03 Is "Post-80s Stepmom" gaining popularity due to Mi Meng-style marketing?
The only exception seems to be Mi Meng's team and their productions like "Post-80s Stepmom" and "Father for the Rich." The news of "Short dramas grabbing 800 million CNY in the Chinese New Year box office" quickly became a hot topic, driven by the marketing around these two short dramas.
"In reality, whether short dramas during the Spring Festival have truly reached 8 billion CNY is not backed by authoritative data. It's all estimates made by industry practitioners and self-media, and there may be some marketing and sensationalism involved," says Liu Liang.
Image source: Screenshot from Weibo
Actually, before "The Post-80s Mom," another short drama titled "My Dearest" that was released during the Spring Festival period also performed remarkably well, achieving daily revenues exceeding 20 million CNY and even more. Another short drama, "Mr. Li, You've Got the Wrong Wife," also gained popularity, topping the short drama heat chart for several consecutive days. However, their producers remained low-key and did not heavily publicize these achievements.
Following the release of "The Post-80s Mom" and "Born to a Rich Family," reports and discussions about the "800 million CNY Spring Festival slot, Mimeng hits another jackpot" quickly emerged, igniting public discourse and subtly revealing the marketing strategies reminiscent of "The Black Lotus" and "Assistant Li" eras.
According to data from AppGrowing China, under Yumi Cloud, "The Post-80s Mom" saw over 17,000 ad placements within its first week of release, across major social media platforms including Tencent, Douyin, Weibo, and Kuaishou.
Image Source: Screenshot from AppGrowing China Version
"This extensive advertising push is reminiscent of the earlier releases like 'Black Lotus' and 'Li, the Assistant,' showcasing the typical 'Mimeng style.' While it certainly benefits in guiding the audience towards paying for content, it undeniably significantly raises the marketing costs for short dramas," Huang He commented.
According to Huang He, previously, the major advantage of short dramas was their low production cost and high return on investment. However, since the short drama craze erupted in November last year, the competition has intensified dramatically, leading to a rapid increase in marketing costs. "Currently, the advertising prices for short dramas on various platforms have increased by around 15% compared to before the surge in November last year."
"Of course, the audience's willingness to pay has also increased, especially for light-hearted genres. The average number of people paying per hundred has increased by approximately 20% compared to before. So, it's still a proportional increase. However, for non-light-hearted genres of short dramas, it's not as easy, and their advertising and promotion costs will definitely rise," Huang He stated.
04 Short Drama Craze Attracts Giants, Shifting Short Video Platforms into the "Main Battlefield"
"After the 'delisting storm,' in just a few months, Huang He, as a practitioner in the short drama industry, felt the pressure of competition. 'When I started working on short dramas in 2022, there weren't many people around me doing this. Practitioners were mostly individuals or small companies, belonging to the typical 'grassroots team.' After finishing the post-production of a new drama, it could be immediately released, and payments and profit sharing were all very fast.'"
"But after short dramas became a hotspot in November last year, it became apparent that more people joined. The platforms we used to cooperate with started having crowded schedules, and there were even scheduling conflicts during popular periods like long holidays," Huang He explained.
Image Source: Screenshot from Weibo
Liu Liang's company, which previously specialized in traditional TV dramas and had its series broadcasted on satellite channels multiple times, faced operational challenges amid changing market conditions. During this period, the company identified an opportunity in short dramas and decisively entered the field in November 2023.
"So far, the returns have been pretty good. Short dramas have clear advantages: low cost, short production time, and high returns. As long as the content quality is maintained, the gross margin is very attractive to companies in the industry at this stage," Liu Liang mentioned. While his company would be considered medium or small scale in the traditional film and television industry, it's regarded as a "big company" in the realm of short drama production.
The short drama industry experienced explosive growth in scale and popularity in 2023, becoming an undeniable new force in the entertainment market. Various parties are eagerly entering the field to help drive market development, with high-quality content continuously emerging and the user base growing significantly. Douyin and Kuaishou, two giants in the short video domain, have also made significant inroads and deepened their investments in the short drama sector, with several dramas becoming hits and successfully reaching broader audiences.
On January 18th, Douyin held the premium micro-short drama "Chenxing Project" press conference, targeting film and TV companies, media organizations, MCN agencies, and individual creators, announcing financial and traffic support for high-quality micro-short dramas.
According to "Qujie Business," during the 2024 Spring Festival, Douyin officially launched its short drama Spring Festival season, featuring premium short dramas derived from film and TV IPs such as "Surpass! Ah Juan," "Big New Year," "The Hidden World: Autumn Cicada," and "Disguised Game." Concurrently, Douyin also launched topic interactions and nationwide challenges, making it easy for users to watch dramas, chat about them freely, and interact in real-time. This year, Douyin's short drama Spring Festival season topics reached 28.3 billion views, more than five times the amount during the same period in 2023.
Image Source: Douyin Screenshot
The hit short drama series "During the New Year," starring Xu Mengjie, has only updated eight episodes but has already amassed a total viewing count of over 400 million, with each episode receiving an average of over one million likes. The short drama "The World of Aunties: New Year Edition," produced jointly by Douyin and Mango TV, has reached a viewing count of over 100 million.
According to "Qujie Business," in 2023, the number of Douyin users actively searching for short dramas daily doubled, with over 500 short dramas breaking the 100 million viewing count mark, including 12 dramas surpassing 1 billion views. The daily viewing count of short dramas has doubled.
Image source: Screenshot from TikTok
Another major domestic short video platform, Kuaishou, has also made impressive strides in the short drama sector. Chen Yi, Vice President of Kuaishou and head of its entertainment business, revealed that by the end of 2023, nearly a thousand short dramas had been launched on Kuaishou's Starlight platform, covering eight major genres including ancient style, urban, comedy, and mystery. There were 326 dramas with over 100 million views, 68 dramas with over 300 million views, and 4 blockbuster dramas with over 1 billion views.
According to "Business Insight," as of 2023, the daily average users (DAU) for Kuaishou short dramas reached 270 million, with the number of users watching more than 10 episodes per day hitting 94 million, a year-over-year increase of 52.6%. The huge user base, combined with the platform's incentive policies, has also attracted creators; by the end of 2023, the scale of short drama creators on the Kuaishou platform had surpassed 100,000.
By the end of 2023, the core user base of Kuaishou Starlight short dramas grew by more than 29%; the scale of paying users increased nearly tenfold in a certain period, the GMV of original paid short dramas increased nearly twentyfold, and the conversion of new paying users accounted for more than 40% daily, with a more balanced male-to-female ratio and wider age coverage.
Image source: Screenshot from Kuaishou Entertainment's official WeChat account
According to data from EntGroup Solutions, the market saw the release of over 1,400 short drama series in 2023, marking a year-over-year growth rate of more than 50% for the second consecutive year. The number of short dramas registered for the year approached 3,000, maintaining this high level for two consecutive years. In 2023, the short drama market reached a size of nearly 40 billion CNY, close to 70% of the film market's volume, with expectations to surpass 100 billion CNY within five years. Short video platforms, serving as the main supply force for short drama content, accounted for over 70% of the overall market supply in 2023.
With continuous improvement in policies, the market is moving from a "disordered sprint" to "healthy development." It's also making breakthroughs in directions such as content monetization and international expansion, gradually becoming a new battleground for brand content marketing.
However, it's crucial not to overlook that in the realm of content creation, the core principle remains unchanged—content is king. Short dramas that are crafted with care and of high quality continue to be welcomed and supported by the market; those that do not align with public values or potentially misguide the youth in terms of values and behavioral norms should disappear from the public eye as soon as possible.
