This Week in Vertical Issue 2026-w38
This Week in Vertical — 14–20 September 2026
18 reports on the vertical-drama business dated 14–20 September 2026, each labelled with the basis it rests on and linked to its sources.
The lead
- PineDrama passes 100m downloads with about 7m daily users, per Sensor Tower
ByteDance's overseas short-drama app has passed 100m cumulative downloads, with Indonesia and Brazil accounting for 82% of them, according to Sensor Tower figures published in China in September.
- iiMedia puts China's 2025 microdrama market at RMB 67.79bn, below the regulator's figure
The research firm's consumer trends report gives a 2025 market size roughly a third smaller than the figure China's broadcasting regulator gave at a State Council briefing the same day.
- Omdia puts US second-screen smartphone use at nearly three in four TV viewers
The research covers simultaneous media use while the television is on, and rose across every age band measured since 2023. It contains no microdrama figure.
More this week
Platforms
- MIPCOM 2026 adds vertical summit and a pre-opening keynote from Dhar Mann
The Cannes market's conference programme includes a closed-door vertical leaders' summit with ten named companies, and its first pre-opening keynote goes to Dhar Mann Studios.
- Prime Video adds on-demand short-form news clips to its US television apps
The clips are news rather than scripted vertical drama, and sit alongside the short-form Clips feature Amazon launched earlier. They are open to all US users, not only Prime subscribers.
Regulation news
- China consults on State Council rules for minors online, above NRTA Order 16
The Cyberspace Administration opened comment on 18 September on draft State Council Provisions on minors' internet use. The text never names micro short drama, but reaches vertical-drama applications through online audio-video services and a ban on algorithms inducing excessive consumption.
- Commission proposes EU KIDS Act, with virtual-currency limits scoped to platforms
The Commission tabled a Regulation on minors' online protection on 17 September. Its addictive-design and virtual-currency provisions bind social networks and video-sharing platforms, not standalone video apps.
- China publishes its July-August generative AI filings, with 1,112 services now cleared
The Cyberspace Administration of China listed 124 newly filed generative AI services for July and August 2026 and restated the duty on apps to display the model name and filing number of the service they use.
- China issues version 3.0 of its AI safety governance framework
The framework is a non-binding governance document, not a rule. It was released at the opening of National Cybersecurity Week in Jinan and is the third edition since 2024.
Content & AI
- Microdrama producers split on format's ceiling at Toronto panel, with AI the open question
At the Access Canada Summit during the Toronto film festival, VertTV's Jeffrey Schenck argued against AI-made verticals while Snow Story's Austin Herring said the format is more than television.
Americas
- Super Punchy Studios moves a paid microdrama to TikTok for free viewing
The Los Angeles studio is making Step by Step, previously exclusive to its own paid app, available free on TikTok. No commercial terms were disclosed.
- Charles Band's FMA Productions takes its first microdrama to vertical streamer Shorts
Full Moon Artists Productions, formed this year by the horror producer with four microdrama performers, begins shooting Love in the Hamptons in East Hampton at the end of September.
Europe
- Mediaset España puts six acquired Turkish vertical series on Mediaset Infinity
The Spanish broadcaster entered vertical microdrama by licensing six Turkish titles from MADD and GAIN rather than commissioning its own, placing them inside its existing streaming service.
- Marseille Web Fest programmes a vertical strand for its 16th edition
The French festival's October programme carries keynotes on short drama, AI-assisted writing and vertical financing, with Gaumont Television France and France 3 PACA taking part.
- Lime Pictures names cast for its first vertical drama, streaming on EPIS
The Hollyoaks producer confirmed its move into vertical drama with Revenge Is A Dish, now on RoseBerry Media's EPIS app, and says it has produced two titles in the format.
Asia
- China regulator says 430,000 microdramas went online in eight months, over 90% AI
At a State Council briefing, the NRTA's network audiovisual director gave user, market and enforcement figures, and said more than 90% of this year's titles were AI-made.
- Mediacorp, SBS's Studio S and SoonShot to develop four Singapore-Korea microdramas
Singapore's Mediacorp announced a partnership with Studio S and the short-form platform SoonShot for four microdramas. The first, a short-form adaptation of the 2018 Korean comedy Still 17, is targeted for release by the end of 2026.
Germany & DACH
- Black Forest Studios sets 1 November launch for German microdrama app Snaxx
The Kirchzarten studio named its consumer platform, gave a simultaneous iOS and Android launch date of 1 November 2026, and published subscription tiers at EUR 4.99 and EUR 9.99 a month. The app is not yet listed in either store.
Regulation tracker
China, NRTA Order No. 16 — Measures for the Administration of Micro Short Drama Development (微短剧发展管理办法)
- 17 September 2026At a State Council Information Office briefing, Wang Xiaoliang, director-general of the NRTA's network audiovisual programme management department, said 430,000 microdramas went online in the first eight months of…