©Courtesy of TikTok
TikTok, the social media platform, is reportedly planning to provide micro-drama content for television, a market that has been estimated at $1.4 billion. According to Business Insider, the company is already casting actors for the project, which was described by a TikTok staffer as “a soap-opera style project.”
This development comes in the wake of TikTok’s November 25 filing of trademark protections for the term “TikTok Drama” to be used in the productions of “short drama series, television programs, and webisodes.” Business Insider says, however, that TikTok has not yet responded to its request for comment on this development.
TikTok hosts a short drama feed that includes short (1 to 5 minute) clips from third-party sources, which it uses as a tool for attracting paid subscriptions to its services. Many of these clips are being created thanks to recent technological advances made possible by AI (artificial intelligence). As Business Insider reported on March 19: “At the top of TikTok’s mini-drama library are categories like ‘Crime Lord,’ ‘Cute Kids,’ ‘One-night stand,’ and ‘CEO.’ Scroll through some of the episodes, and you’ll see: mermaids, depressed polar bears dancing on beaches, AI-generated zombies, and even a ‘Burger CEO’ seemingly poking fun at the CEO of McDonald’s.”
TikTok’s initiative is nothing new: It’s been speculated that the social-media giant may have been inspired by ByteDance, its parent company in China that started streaming mini dramas via its Douyin app. At present, there are an estimated 20 micro-drama companies, including ReelShort, DramaBox, SnackShort, Netshort and YuzuDrama. In addition, YouTube had experimented with a service called YouTube Originals, and the Quibi app was providing short content before it shut down in December of 2020. NetFlix, Paramount, and Disney are also considering whether they should enter the potentially lucrative short-drama market, and Amazon is also testing a mini-drama feature in its streaming service in India.
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