Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Jeffrey Katzenberg was probably too early when he launched Quibi (short for quick bites) in early 2020.
The company closed down six months later having consumed nearly $1.5 billion of capital. Fast forward four years and the global market (excluding China) for micro-dramas, or ultra short fiction content made for consumption on the go, is said to be worth $2 billion a year.
It is expected to double by 2025. Like Korean webtoons, micro dramas are digitally native content, made for viewers using handheld mobile devices.
That may be one of the reasons why the streaming services that lean into TV sets and PCs (such as Netflix and Disney+) flourished during COVID lockdowns and why micro dramas took off once people began to commute and travel for leisure again.
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