Industry Observation
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This week there isn’t a flood of headline deals, so let’s use the quiet to zoom in on distribution. We’ve been hyper-focused on vertical-drama apps, but there’s a parallel signal: more mini-series producers are releasing directly on YouTube. Today, let’s study that path, and stack
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Week of Oct. 19–26, 2025
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If you treat ReelShort as just one hit app, you’re missing the bigger play. Behind ReelShort’s operator, Crazy Maple Studio (CMS), stands COL Group—a company stitching together a global short-drama business with a multi-app portfolio, region-by-region operations, and a library it can sell wholesale. First, the relationships.
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Week of Oct. 12–19, 2025
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Week of Oct. 5–12, 2025
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Two things can be true at once: micro-dramas are still scrappy, and they’re already big business. Outside China, the format generated about $1.4B in 2024 and is forecast to hit $9.5B by 2030, a curve steep enough to make every studio, streamer and creator pay attention. This
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Week of Sept 28–Oct 5, 2025
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After a year of splashy model showcases and proof-of-concept clips, AI-native short dramas are starting to look like a business. App-store data indicates in-app purchases for short-drama platforms approached $700 million in Q1 2025, nearly four times the prior year, with the U.S. responsible for roughly 49% of that
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Community Notice: This is an information-only listing shared by Real Reel for our creator community.
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Week of Sept 21–28, 2025
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Framing for market observers The export wave is no longer a curiosity. It’s a bifurcated market with two winning logics: scale (library density + paid distribution) and efficiency (high RPD/LTV from narrowly targeted users). Understanding which game a company is playing explains the leaderboard and where margins come from.
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Week of Sept 14–21, 2025