Microdrama Reshapes Streaming Strategy in Southeast Asia

Research at the APOS conference in Bali identified two attention modes among Southeast Asian viewers. “Fast attention”—feeds, messaging and short-form video—dominates digital leisure in brief, frequent bursts. “Slow attention” describes longer, self-selected sessions on premium VOD platforms, delivering deeper engagement but occurring far less often.

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Even among confirmed premium VOD subscribers, the category accounts for roughly 8 % of the five-hour daily mobile leisure window—about one hour when TV is included. This share is flat across all dayparts, from pre-dawn to night, and a third of premium sessions involve a concurrent second screen, indicating stacked rather than cannibalized consumption.

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Microdrama—short, TikTok-style episodes with premium production values—operates in the fast-attention layer while delivering story depth. It streamlines the conversion process, letting streamers capture viewers with bite-size content, monetize directly, and channel the most engaged users toward longer-form catalogs. Executives cite vertical-video formats as a distribution vehicle.

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In Indonesia and Thailand, local titles outpace Korean dramas. Indonesia’s local share is 33 % versus 28 % for Korean; Thailand’s is 28 % versus 22 %. Thai content reaches 6.4 million users, spanning crime/thriller (39 %), sci-fi/fantasy (25 %), drama/romance (18 %), BL/GL (15 %) and horror (10 %). Indonesian cross-border hits are mainly horror, chiefly in the Philippines.

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Netflix’s Minyoung Kim noted a “dormant fandom” reviving for Japanese live-action and Chinese-language titles and praised Thai productions for high-value storytelling. Warner Bros’ James Gibbons highlighted a shift toward vertical-video formats to match device demographics. Disney’s Tony Zameczkowski pointed to YouTube creators entering mainstream and the launch of a vertical-browsing feature, Verts, on Disney+. Executives agreed that local-language micro-format content is the primary growth engine in the region.

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• “Even premium video, the one thing you’d expect to own the evening, sits flat at 7–8% in every daypart. There’s no primetime anymore.” — Dhivya T., Head of Insights, Media Partners Asia

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• “Microdrama is the first format that builds and banks in the fast layer at once. It collapses the funnel,” — Dhivya T., Head of Insights, Media Partners Asia

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• “What we’re seeing is that there’s a dormant fandom waking up when it comes to Japanese live action and Chinese-language content,” — Minyoung Kim, VP Content, Netflix

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• “I’m going to go for the vertical video format, simply because the demographics and devices are just driving it faster.” — James Gibbons, President APAC, Warner Bros Discovery

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Analysts expect microdrama to become a staple acquisition target, with streamers already signing deals to secure vertical-video libraries. Vertical formats and second-screen integration will likely deepen as device usage evolves. Regional players plan to expand Thai and Indonesian productions, while global studios eye the region’s soft-power boost, exemplified by upcoming Harry Potter series rollouts and related theme-park expansions in Japan and China.

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