A Survey On The Status Quo And Development Trend Of Web Micro-drama In China

With the explosive growth of short video industry in China,the "micro-drama"has emerged as a future standard for mobile videos focusing on high-standard original content.The so-called"micro-drama"refers to short video that broadcast over desktop or mobile with playtime less than 5 minutes,systematic planning and content creation,and a complete storyline.The production chain of the micro-drama industry is mainly composed of the content creation,the distribution channels,and the derivative markets.the content creation is dominated by PGC and MCN institutions;the distribution channel consists of short video platform,traditional video website,social platform and e-commerce Platform;the derivative market is about converting free customers to paying customers.The business models of micro-drama:in terms of content creation models,it requires a professional team of production,cast,and budget management.The script writing comes with three categories:the original,the customized and the adapted.The shooting mode varies from portrait to landscape orientation.Existing collaboration models are platform customization,joint production,and copyright procurement.The major marketing models of micro-drama are joint-brand,content payment,interactive marketing,multi-platform distribution promotion,and derivative market development.Through in-depth interviews with industry leaders,the author discusses the bottlenecks of the development of micro-drama:high-quality original contents,diversity of profits,and targeted user behavior analysis.In the end,the author makes six predictions on the development trend of micro-drama:Portrait-mode videos would become popular,but won't replace the landscape-mode videos;The market will continue its vertical integration and favor the original content.The interactive-drama may become the next big thing.Great potentials for internet celebrity and e-commerce models.Contents promoting mainstream values,sharing lifestyle might become popular.Targeted and integrated marketing models will be favored.There's a growing trend for micro-drama in the upcoming years.However,it is necessary to maintain rationality and sobriety on the thriving brought by investment from media platforms.It requires to explore the content creation,a diversified and sustainable profit model to achieve long-term and healthy development of micro-drama.