Insiders at TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, have told The Information that the company is considering using minutes-long minidramas to bolster TikTok viewership in the US. For the uninitiated, minidramas are vertically-shot, minutes-long episodes of a fictional show designed for mobile viewing.
Over on Douyin, China’s equivalent to TikTok, these minidramas are already proving popular. But it seems like ByteDance wants to take things to the next level. The Information’s ByteDance insiders claim that TikTok is considering asking Hollywood studios to make these shows.
Purportedly, TikTok is considering adopting Douyin’s business model for these mini-dramas — offering the first few episodes for free before starting to charge users to watch them.
According to The Information, TikTok execs got on board with the idea of professionally-produced minidramas after conducting some internal research on the growth trajectories of Douyin and YouTube.
Could TikTok minidramas be successful?
TikTok also published a white paper in July 2024 on how to market minidramas outside of China, with the company writing: “It’s time for short dramas to go abroad.”
The white paper, which was written for companies aiming to create international minidramas, claims that the market for minidramas outside China will exceed $10 million in the future. The document also predicts that the US will be the largest market outside of China.
As The Information points out, many platforms have tried and failed to do this in the past. YouTube Originals, Facebook Watch, and Quibi are just some of the examples of these flops. But if anyone can succeed at it, it’s TikTok.
