DUANJU  NEWS

Nippon TV is one of the major names in Japanese media, the country’s first commercial broadcaster from the 1950s onward, and it also operates Hulu in Japan. The group announced the launch of Viral Pocket, a structure dedicated to the Duanju market. Nippon TV does not present this initiative as an isolated experiment, but as a fully fledged business built around three functions : IP development, the production of projects designed for the vertical format, and marketing support

Google, one of the world's largest technology companies, is launching an initiative related to the duanju format. Through 100 Zeros, developed with the American company Range Media Partners, the group is financing and structuring short series designed for mobile phones, with initial exposure planned on the Google TV app for Android. For the public, the issue is concrete: duanju would no longer be confined to a specialized application, but integrated into a discovery and recom

"A country that no longer controls its narratives is a country that loses its soul. And an industry that no longer controls its formats is an industry that loses its future." It was with this quote attributed to the famous French director Bertrand Tavernier that Isabelle Degeorges recently raised the debate surrounding fiction for mobile phones. Isabelle Degeorges, President of Gaumont Television France since 2013, heads the French television branch of Gaumont. The group, fou

Long associated with personal phones, the vertical format could soon become a permanent fixture in living rooms. In China, several manufacturers are developing mobile home screens, larger than a smartphone, capable of natively displaying content in portrait orientation. These screens, usually mounted on stands, can be oriented in portrait or landscape mode, and are sometimes equipped with a built-in battery, and are designed to move around the house. They can be moved from th

Viu is a streaming platform owned by the Hong Kong-based PCCW Group. The service is available in several markets across Asia, the Middle East, and South Africa, with 15.5 million paid subscribers at the end of December 2024. Since then, the company has reached 16.8 million paid subscribers, and subscription revenue has grown by 13% year-over-year. On January 8, 2026, Viu announced Viu Shorts, a new section of vertical videos integrated directly into the Viu mobile app. It's n

Disney+ is preparing to add a stream of short videos in vertical format, full screen, scrolling, quick discovery, and continuously refreshed content. The idea is to make the application a daily reflex, including between two "long format" viewing sessions, by adopting the swipe mechanics popularized by TikTok. Disney+ plans to mix several types of content: original short programs, clips designed for social media sharing, and "reformatted" scenes from films and series in its ca

On the subway, time often stretches out in fragments: a platform, a carriage, two stations. It is precisely in these interstices that a format originating in China, and now discussed in France during prime time, thrives: micro-dramas, also called duanju. On Thursday, February 5, 2026, in LCI's morning show, Sandra Marconi, trends columnist, delves deeper into the subject and describes a consumption designed for vertical screens and for continuous viewing. On air, Sandra Marco

Micro-dramas have long thrived on the fringes of platforms, fueled by clips, shocking scenes, and cliffhangers recycled for acquisition. TikTok is changing tack. With PineDrama, the company is no longer simply serving as a marketing highway for third-party apps: it's creating a dedicated space where users consume fiction like a stream, episode after episode, without ever leaving the world of mobile devices. A separate application to structure the experience PineDrama presents

Holywater has just announced a $22 million funding round to accelerate the development of its applications, such as MyDrama, and its content dedicated to the short vertical format: Duanju. A fundraising round is a process where investors buy a stake in a company to finance a growth phase. In practice, there is almost always a lead investor, the one who provides the largest share of the capital and leads the round. They manage the analysis of the business plan, negotiate the t

We had already followed this project when it was called StoryTV, at the time when Alexandre Perrin and Adrien Cottinaud presented it as a French initiative dedicated to vertical micro-series. The name has since evolved to StoryShort, an English title for a French application featuring series in French. This reflects a desire to position itself in a global market while avoiding confusion with similar names, particularly in India with the “Story TV” application. During the scre

As smartphones become the primary screen, part of the audiovisual battle is now being fought on ultra-short formats, consumed in binge-watching, but produced with premium fiction ambitions. It is in this context that Holywater, the Ukrainian company behind the My Drama app, announces a strategic alliance with Elefantec Global, a studio founded by Pepe Bastón, a major figure in the Latin American industry and a specialist in serialized storytelling. A partnership tailored for

Duanju continues to gain traction in Europe, and Portugal is now launching its own industrial project. At the end of October 2025, RTP, the Portuguese public broadcasting group, announced a partnership with SPi, a local production company, to launch what is being presented as Portugal's first vertical micro-drama project. Production: a clear package, an identified team The project is structured as a series: five series, 20 episodes per series, approximately 1 minute 30 second

TikTok is adding a new entry point to Duanju: Minis, an integrated section that groups together mini-programs, including 9:16 "mini dramas" for binge-watching. The goal is to allow audiences to discover, watch, and pay without the usual hurdles of downloading a dedicated app, creating a new account, or making off-platform payments. An important point for Western audiences: at this stage, this isn't a new app to install, but rather an internal TikTok feature. According to Busi

Shorties Studios is a new international studio born from the partnership of three professionals from premium fiction and television. Their common ground is having held management positions in major audiovisual companies before deciding to work together on a project focused exclusively on short, vertically formatted series. The project brings together Kelly Luegenbiehl, former head of Netflix original series for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; Onur Güvenatam, founder of t

Duanju videos have become a phenomenon that Chinese television can no longer ignore. Their explosion on mobile devices has given rise to a new generation of players, followed by millions of viewers, to the point that they are now invited onto mainstream entertainment programs. This visibility marks a key milestone: duanju videos are no longer a peripheral format. The show "Kai Bo! Duanju Season" was the first to place micro-fiction at the heart of a real television set. Conce

Note : This app is not to be confused with the French platform of the same name, which is run by the independent studio StudioQuinze. This is an Indian micro-drama app owned by the Eloelo group. Currently, there are no financial or editorial ties between these two platforms, which operate in different countries and ecosystems. In India, where epic television sagas have long been a staple of family evenings, a change in format is underway. Balaji Telefilms, known for its long

Atresmedia, one of Spain's largest media groups, is venturing into microdramas with *Una novia por Navidad*, a series created specifically for Flooxer in a vertical format. Atresmedia owns several popular national channels and a streaming platform, Atresplayer, which plays a key role in modernizing Spanish television drama. With this project, the group joins the global trend of short-form mobile storytelling, already well-established in Asia and Latin America. The series is d

Inter Medya, based in Istanbul, is one of the leading exporters of Turkish television series. In just over thirty years, the company has built a catalog of thousands of hours of programming sold in more than 160 countries. It is now launching a new line of work: micro-dramas shot directly in 9:16 and designed for quick viewing on smartphones. A new step for Inter Medya Its first original series, "Iki CEO Bir Araya Gelmemeliydik," strings together short, actor-centric scenes w

In Hollywood, a new platform aims to turn micro-dramas into a mainstream business. GammaTime has just raised $14 million to produce very short series, filmed in vertical format and designed exclusively for smartphones. The idea is to take the formula of Chinese duanju and adapt it for Western audiences, with one- to two-minute episodes meant to be binge-watched. Behind GammaTime is Bill Block, former head of Miramax, who produced numerous independent films in the United State

On Facebook, the page "Sous le ciel de Paris" (Under the Paris Sky) has become a viral phenomenon, celebrating the beauty of the French capital. It publishes daily photos and videos offering a poetic perspective on Paris: the alleyways of Montmartre, the banks of the Seine at sunset, the interiors of historic cafés... This content resonates deeply with Paris lovers and generates massive engagement. The photo of the picturesque Rue de l'Abreuvoir in Montmartre is among the mos