China's Internet Giants Signal Major Moves in Short Drama Market

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AsianFin -- Chinese leading internet content platforms iQIYI and ByteDance’s Hongguo Short Drama have established a strategic partnership to drive the production of premium short dramas.

They made the announcement on Monday during a forum at ByteDance's headquarters. The collaboration involves co-developing IPs, co-producing content, and licensing finished productions, so as to create more high-quality short dramas.

Meanwhile, Hongguo Short Drama announced that it has finalized collaborations with several media outlets and organizations, including China Media Group, Beijing Radio and Television Station, and Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation, to produce five premium micro-short dramas.

At the event, Hongguo Short Drama unveiled its upgraded "Guoran Plan," expanding it into an industry-wide initiative to support premium short dramas with production funding and substantial traffic promotion after launch. The company committed to maintaining high standards and greater investments to create exceptional content.

iQIYI has fully embraced micro and short dramas, integrating them into the company’s diverse content strategy, said Yang Haitao, the senior vice president of iQIYI.

The company looks forward to working closely with Hongguo Short Drama to improve the creation of premium content and contribute to the healthy development of the industry, he added.

Le Li, the editor-in-chief of Hongguo Short Drama, expressed hope for long-term partnerships with experienced film and television teams, saying that producing good content calls for collaboration with experienced creators.

This collaboration follows iQIYI's launch of its "Short Theater" and "Micro Theater" in September, which marked a shift in the company’s strategy to support short-form content. Currently, the platform offers over 10,000 micro and short dramas, available to both members and non-members.

Yang also shared iQIYI's progress in the short drama sector over the past three months. One vertical-screen micro drama project generated over one million yuan (US$ 13.6 million) in monthly revenue, while a short drama garnered over 24 million yuan (US$ 3.27 million) at the box office.

Shortly after the announcement, Pony Ma, the chairman and CEO of Tencent, revealed plans to invest in premium short dramas. At Tencent's annual staff meeting, Ma said that they won’t produce low-quality short dramas but will invest in premium productions. While short dramas disrupt the ecosystem, Tencent has a track record of delivering high-quality content.

This was the first time Pony Ma publicly shared his views on short dramas. He noted that long-form video content has developed steadily, but short dramas have significantly disrupted the existing ecosystem. While audiences primarily focus on premium long dramas, mid- to lower-tier long dramas have been heavily impacted.

Tencent's Platform and Content Group (PCG), which oversees Tencent Video and other content arms, received acknowledgment from senior management for its improved performance, signaling the company’s renewed focus on content innovation.

The short drama market has seen explosive growth, with several smash hits in 2024. ByteDance’s Hongguo Short Drama app attracted over 100 million monthly active users, and its Tomato Novel platform announced a 200 million yuan investment in content support. These developments pose a direct challenge to Tencent’s dominance in long-form video and digital content through Tencent Video and China Literature, another content platform under Tencent Group.

The strategic collaboration between iQIYI and ByteDance, coupled with Tencent’s foray into the premium short drama space, marks a new phase of competition and consolidation in the industry. As platforms integrate resources and expertise, the short drama market is poised for a surge in high-quality productions, driving further growth and innovation in 2025.

(Note: 1 U.S. dollar equals 7.2 Chinese yuan.)