Owl & Co.: two-thirds of Q3 vertical drama releases outside China were AI generated
The consultancy's quarterly report puts the AI-generated share at 3% in the first quarter and 28% in the second; PineDrama accounted for more than half of 63bn views tracked in the third.
What this basis means: Third-party research vendor estimate. The vendor is named wherever the source identifies it.
Two-thirds of vertical drama releases outside China in the third quarter of 2026 on 20 top platforms were AI generated, according to Owl & Co.'s latest "What We Watched on Vertical" report, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter on 20 October 2026. The share was 3% in the first quarter and 28% in the second.
The apps tracked by Owl & Co. recorded 63bn microdrama views and 2bn viewing hours in the quarter. TikTok's free PineDrama app accounted for more than half of all views and added 15,501 titles, an increase of more than 300% on the previous quarter. Among paid apps, DramaBox had 36% of views, ReelShort 29%, NetShort 20% and DramaWave 11%.
The top title by minutes watched was ReelShort's AI-generated The Great and Powerful Genie. One live-action title, ReelShort's My X-Ray Vision Sees Right Through You, reached the top five, and two reached the top 20. The report also observed a pullback towards live action in China, and found that at ReelShort live-action titles were more likely than AI titles to remain in the top 10% by views 30 days after release. The release date and methodology of the report were not stated in the coverage.
Companies Owl & Co., PineDrama, DramaBox, ReelShort, NetShort, DramaWave