Microdramas in Europe: audiences, players and rules, market by market

How big is the European microdrama audience?

Omdia's 2025 estimates of monthly active users put the United Kingdom first in Europe at 8.2m and Germany second at 4.4m (Europe market by market). Sensor Tower put Europe at about 10% of global in-app purchase revenue in the first quarter of 2025, and Adjust and Sensor Tower put its share of video-entertainment time at about 4% in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Adjust and Sensor Tower put European revenue per monthly active user at $2.05 for 2025 and $0.24 for the first quarter of 2026, and noted that installs grew faster than monetisation. The first figure covers a full year and the second a single quarter, so the two are not like for like. Diandian put European revenue per download at $2.30 between August 2023 and June 2024, above the global average.

Survey data adds detail by country. Omdia's April 2026 consumer research found men accounted for 54% of UK microdrama users, against 47% across all markets surveyed (Omdia). Among Spanish OTT users, GECA found 38.3% of adults and 62% of 18- to 24-year-olds consume vertical fiction (May 2026). Dentsu's Entertainment Spotlight 2026, released on 8 October 2026, found one in five consumers across 12 markets watch microdramas, and Satellifacts reported the French share at 8%; the two figures come from different bases (Dentsu). Omdia reported that daily usage in Poland doubled year on year (May 2026).

European audience and revenue estimates

Which European broadcasters make microdramas?

Several broadcasters have moved through youth brands and social channels. In the UK, S4C commissioned Signal, a 60-episode Welsh-language drama for the TikTok channel of its youth brand Hansh, after its first vertical series, Yr Alwad (S4C's Signal commission). Channel 4 announced its first microdrama, The Guest List, a five-part series branded with Sol de Janeiro, premiering on 24 October 2026 on its Meta, TikTok and YouTube channels, Deadline reported on 13 October 2026 (Channel 4). In Ireland, Virgin Media Television announced Zero Focals Given, an Irish-language school comedy funded by Screen Ireland, on 18 August 2026.

In Spain, RTVE is converting its youth platform Playz into a vertical app, starting with Estúpido Cupido, C21 reported in December 2025. Atresmedia added La deuda, 55 episodes of about 90 seconds, and Baddie to its Flooxer youth brand, and Mediaset España licensed six Turkish vertical series from MADD and GAIN for Mediaset Infinity, the Spanish trade outlet Audiovisual451 reported in September 2026. In the Netherlands, Talpa's KIJK will open a free strand, KIJK Shorts, in early 2027 with the medical microdrama Code Rood, and Every Media has seven microdramas in development after The Last Summer for KRO-NCRV, C21Media reported on 20 October 2026. In France, Studio TF1's Barjac Production has two vertical dramas entered in Vertival, Satellifacts reported on 21 October 2026. Vertival is a competition for vertical series whose awards evening is on 27 November 2026.

German broadcasters are covered in microdramas in Germany.

European apps, producers and budgets

DataEye put Chinese-origin apps at 93% of in-app purchase revenue outside China in the first half of 2026. Its list of non-Chinese apps in the overseas revenue top 20 includes My Drama, from Ukraine's Holywater, and CandyJarTV, from the Berlin-founded Inkitt. Holywater raised a $22m Series A on 15 January 2026, led by Horizon Capital (funding table; microdrama funding).

Local services launched in 2026 include Sweetz in France, from Nation and Kovalee, backed by a seed round of more than €1m and selling weekly passes from €4.99 rather than episode unlocks (Sweetz pricing), and JLA Play, from France's JLA Groupe, with more than 50 titles at launch, Ecran Total reported on 8 October 2026. RoseBerry Media, headquartered in New York with a hub in London, launched its EPIS app on 14 July 2026 with more than 100 titles, reformatting catalogue from A+E Global Media, All3Media International, Banijay Rights, Cineflix Rights and Fremantle. Lime Pictures, the Hollyoaks producer, made Revenge Is A Dish, which it describes as its first vertical drama; the series streams on EPIS. Amavizion sells its vertical season Shambles outright for £1.49.

At Iberseries in Madrid, Sasha Tkachenko, head of studio at My Drama, put a season produced in Eastern Europe at 80k to 120k and one produced in the United States at 120k to 250k, without naming a currency, The Hollywood Reporter reported on 2 October 2026 (budget ranges). Every Media's co-founder said his target budget is a tenth of a traditional series (production costs).

Market by market

The table summarises published audience data and selected activity in each market, drawn from the Europe market table and the stories linked above.

European markets at a glance

Which EU rules apply to microdrama apps?

Two EU laws in force and two proposals bear on the format; national rules sit on top. The AI Act's transparency duties have applied since 2 August 2026: the Commission states that not all AI-generated content needs a label, and Article 50(4) reaches deep fakes. No vertical-drama service is designated a very large online platform under the Digital Services Act. The proposed EU KIDS Act addresses its virtual-currency and addictive-design provisions to social networks and video-sharing platforms, and a standalone subscription or coin-funded video app is not among the seven categories it lists. The Digital Fairness Act has been announced but not tabled (AI in microdramas).

EU instruments