Vertical microdrama apps like ReelShort now hold US viewers longer per day than Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+. Omdia data via eMarketer puts ReelShort at 35.7 daily minutes per user versus Prime Video's 26.9, Netflix's 24.8, and Disney+'s 23, even though Netflix's monthly mobile app user base (about 12 million) still dwarfs ReelShort's (1.2 million). Global microdrama revenue is tracked at $14 billion for 2026.
The bigger shift is who is watching: a new Holywater Tech and Owl & Co report found the male share of users on My Drama grew 28-fold in seven quarters, from 1.1 percent to 30.3 percent, with men leaning toward sci-fi and fantasy over the romance that still dominates.
Legacy players are responding, not ignoring it: Disney+ launched a vertical feed and its own microdrama, "Locker Diaries"; TelevisaUnivision's ViX built out a vertical slate; Brazil's Globo aired its first vertical drama.
