Mob bosses discovering their softer side. Salacious affairs between werewolves and vampires. Revenge plots against jilted lovers and treacherous pirates. Short Drama has embraced the kind of storytelling that would make even the most seasoned Riverdale writer blush – and audiences can’t get enough.
Already, 44% of UK consumers are familiar with Short Drama platforms, while almost a third (31%) of viewers watch them daily, according to new data by Snapchat and Ipsos. As digital viewing habits continue to change, it is important to see how the platforms we use daily are shaping our expectations and preferences for entertainment on both the small screen and the big.
The anatomy of a micro-blockbuster
The truth of Short Drama is that it is ruthlessly efficient.
Short Dramas condense the emotional peaks of traditional television into episodes lasting anything from one to 15 minutes. There is little room for a slow opening act or a storyline that takes three episodes to warm up. And yet lovable characters are carved out and developed in these short windows. Creators are becoming experts in earning attention in 60 seconds, with every episode creating a reason to watch the next.
Among Snapchatters who watch or engage with Short Dramas, 43% say they are drawn in when a clip begins at a peak moment, while 48% want to see the reveal of a secret. Did the protagonist’s ex-wife survive the skiing accident? Will the secret agent get out of the piranha cage in time? Who is the mysterious man in the diving suit?
Cliffhangers so tantalising that they make Lost look like Bargain Hunt.
Short episodes not short attention
But short episodes shouldn’t be mistaken for short attention spans. In fact, the format can produce exactly the opposite behaviour.
Nearly half (45%) say the brevity of episodes makes it easy to watch “one more”, while 57% of longer-term viewers say they are watching more Short Drama than they were a year ago.
The format works because it fits around people’s lives without asking them to commit upfront to a 45-minute episode. But once viewers are invested, those short bursts can quickly add up to much longer sessions.
The digital water-cooler moment
Short Drama is inherently native to mobile, but it still has the ripple effect that traditional TV drama has – just in a more digital way.
After seeing a Short Drama clip across social and video platforms, 65% of viewers say they are likely to share it with friends or family, 63% are likely to discuss the show in person and 58% would post a reaction or comment.
The discovery is social too, driven by everything from recommendations between friends to creator reviews.
But writers shouldn’t simply look at turning a conventional TV idea into a vertical format. The best shows need to be designed for the environments in which they will travel. They should be immediate enough to stop a scroll, emotionally heightened enough to provoke a reaction, and packed with moments that you have to share with your friends.
Why advertisers should pay attention
There is an advertiser angle here too of course. Short Drama is creating pockets of intense, intentional attention inside a format that people often associate with passive scrolling. Gen Z users are putting their money where their mouths are when it comes to eating up short-form video. Among daily Snapchatters, for example, 54% already spend money on Short Dramas each month.
The opportunity goes beyond simply placing advertising around the content – it’s possible to make the audience part of the conversation. AR Lenses and creator-produced content create an even deeper level of engagement and shareability, encouraging users to make their own content for amplifying these stories.
The story here is far beyond the 60-second shortness of Short Drama. It is that the first 60 seconds determine whether they will give you the next 60, and then the next 60 – and perhaps the next 30 minutes after that.
Lina Baron is Performance Lead at Snapchat
