Feature Archives

Distribution 2.0

Oct 22, 2026

As YouTube, FAST and social video become distribution businesses in their own right, programme distributors are learning to operate channels, interpret audiences and finance new digital-first IP. Andy Fry asks what they must build, what they should buy and where the...

I’m a format…GET ME OUT THERE!

Oct 14, 2026

For all the talk about creators, platforms and algorithms, a more traditional piece of the entertainment business is starting to assert itself in digital-first content: the format. The Drop’s Format Watch identifies new and emerging ideas that have the potential...

The Drop magazine – issue #3

Oct 9, 2026

Issue #3 of The Drop magazine is out now! Click below to read....

Lessons learned from building a niche YouTube channel

Oct 2, 2026

Lessons learned from building a niche YouTube channel By Emma Tracey, founder and CEO, CultRepo Building a big audience around a niche subject can seem a bit contradictory. If your subject only appeals to a specific group of people, how do you build a channel at...

Why micro dramas exploded in China, and what happens when the West catches up

Sep 29, 2026

China’s short drama industry is now worth nearly twice its cinema box office, and by one insider’s reckoning the West is simply running the same playbook two years late. The question for producers is whether they will learn the machine, or just copy the...

Niche work if you can get it

Sep 19, 2026

Strong Watch Studios co-founder Ben Powell-Jones believes the creator economy is already giving way to something narrower and more direct – the community economy. He talks to The Drop about the Channel 4 deal that proves the model, and why audience size has...