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Vertical Drama H1 2025 Snapshot

The global short-form drama boom shows no sign of slowing. From January through June, 257 dedicated apps racked up more than 84.59 million…

Real Reel™

09 Jul 2025 — 2 min read

The global short-form drama boom shows no sign of slowing. From January through June, 257 dedicated apps racked up more than 84.59 million installs and roughly $193 million in revenue in June alone, putting the industry within striking distance of a $200 million monthly milestone. Downloads have climbed for five straight months while revenue growth lags behind, underscoring how “free-to-watch plus ads” is bringing in new viewers faster than it is raising average spend per user.

Regional Highlights

America remains the cash cow: U.S. users spent about $90 million in June, accounting for 53.5% of worldwide revenue, even as month-over-month growth slowed to half a percent. Indonesia is the download king with 12.01 million installs in June, up 20.5 percent, but it generated only $4.47 million, confirming that ad-supported viewing dominates Southeast Asia. Egypt is the surprise breakout market; fueled by RapidTV, the country cracked the global top-ten for downloads after back-to-back triple-digit surges.

Platform Scorecard

ReelShort and DramaBox still anchor the top tier. ReelShort pulled in $49.2 million in June, while DramaBox overtook it for first place in downloads with 13.45 million installs. Mid-tier challengers are gaining ground: RapidTV vaulted into the “ten-million-downloads club” with a pure free-plus-ads model, ShotShort jumped from 17 thousand to over one million installs but saw revenue fall by half, and Short Reels used tiered subscriptions to push a 6.3% download lift in Indonesia.

Monetization Trends

Ad revenue is surging in emerging markets, subscriptions and premium add-ons remain staples in the U.S. and Japan, and leading platforms are experimenting with hybrid models that balance ads against membership perks.

Branded product placement and AI-generated scripts started showing up in June, signaling a more flexible, tech-driven approach for the back half of the year.

Looking Ahead

Crossing the $200 million monthly threshold, rolling out region-specific content, and pushing average revenue per user higher are the next big tests. Watch for Middle-East and Latin-American stories to get the Hollywood treatment, for mergers and acquisitions among mid-tier players, and for AI tools to reshape how mini-episodes are written and shot. The only certainty is that the short drama arms race is getting even sharper.

Source: Source: Appfigures Data & Short Drama Study Room Report

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