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during this year’s national day holiday, the film and television industry ushered in a “new force”.

different from the previous situation where movies dominated the national day schedule, micro-short dramas have made a strong entry into the national day schedule with a series of works covering themes such as history, cultural heritage, and rural revitalization, aiming to further enter the mainstream market under the trend of high-quality products. within 24 hours of being online, the views of some short dramas quickly climbed to tens of millions.

in fact, with the rapid rise of short videos in recent years, micro-short dramas have quickly attracted a large number of viewers due to their small size, short duration, and fast pace. many "mary sue", youth campus, and reality-themed dramas have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and have successfully "detonated" the audio-visual market.

at the same time, the monetization methods of micro-short dramas have become increasingly diversified, from the initial recharge monetization of mini-program short dramas to the current coexistence of three models: iap (in-app advertising monetization), iaa (in-app purchase) and end-native.

the "statistical report on china's internet development" released on august 29 shows that the number of micro-short drama users accounts for 52.4% of the total internet users. according to relevant statistics, the market size of short dramas will reach 37.39 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 267.65% compared with 2022, and it is expected to exceed 50 billion yuan in 2024.

it is worth noting that the popularity of micro-short dramas is not limited to young audiences, but has also gradually penetrated into the middle-aged and elderly markets. "it's such a familiar plot, but it's such an unfamiliar age." from ordinary people to multi-millionaires, from disputes between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to revenge and rebirth...a series of micro-short dramas with middle-aged and elderly people as the protagonists, specially created for middle-aged and elderly audiences. , such as "the group dotes on my mom i can't offend" and "the fifty-year-old overbearing president spoils me crazy after a flash marriage" and other works have risen strongly in the second half of the year and "dominated" the rankings on multiple platforms.

why do middle-aged and elderly dramas target the silver-haired market? the reporter noticed that these vertical short dramas for middle-aged and elderly people cover topics such as flash marriages, twilight love affairs, conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, counterattacks and slaps in the face, and unfilial sons and daughters, and each has a broad market. at the same time, the "divergence" between male and female channels has also continued in short dramas for middle-aged and elderly people.

take the female channel "flash marriage my wife is a rich family" as an example. the drama tells the story of shi xiaoxiu, a 58-year-old rural woman, who met the 62-year-old domineering ceo lei zhiyuan when her life was at a low point, and thus embarked on a cheating life. men's short dramas, such as "the return of daddy", add elements such as male-preferred battlefields to family relationships.

the accelerated expansion of the middle-aged and elderly drama market reflects the vast blue ocean under the "silver economy". according to the "statistical bulletin on the development of civil affairs in 2023", as of the end of 2023, the country's elderly population aged 60 and over reached 296.97 million, accounting for 21.1% of the total population. among them, the population aged 65 and over was 216.76 million, accounting for 21.6% of the total population. 15.4%.

why are some middle-aged and elderly people addicted to short dramas? with the improvement of living standards and the upgrading of cultural consumption, the demand for spiritual and cultural life among middle-aged and elderly people is growing day by day. they are no longer satisfied with traditional entertainment methods, but are more eager to see high-quality works that reflect their own lives and emotions. this trend provides huge impetus for the development of the middle-aged and elderly drama market.

"middle-aged and elderly people have always been the main audience in the paid market. because compared to young people, they have fewer entertainment alternatives, more free time, and are more willing to pay for short dramas." said zhang jingsi, screenwriter of the october 5th film and television company.

these "invisible rich" who have been seen by the market are relying on their strong consumption power to continuously promote the emergence of new top players in the short drama market with hundreds of millions of streams. data from the china research center on aging shows that my country’s silver economy market size will be approximately 7 trillion yuan in 2023, accounting for approximately 6% of gdp. it is estimated that by 2035, the market size will reach 30 trillion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 15.7%.

right now is still a window period for middle-aged and elderly short dramas to be popular. according to data released by questmobile at the end of 2023, 32.4% of micro-short drama application users are 31-45 years old, and 37.3% are over 46 years old. by march 2024, the user portraits of short drama apps show that the proportion of people under 30 years old has dropped to 24.4%, while the proportion of people over 46 years old has increased to 39.2%.

however, it is worth noting that although the short drama market for middle-aged and elderly people is booming, it is not that simple to make a "hit" that makes money. "the casting is done by external companies." tinghuadao, the production company behind "flash marriage", said that the drama has been the highest-grossing short drama since the spring festival this year, with a mini-program recharge amount of 30 million yuan and end-user revenue of 2 million yuan. 10,000 yuan, including the revenue share and the follow-up hongguo app account sharing, etc., the company’s total revenue is expected to be 6 million yuan.

serious homogeneity is one of the pain points. an employee of fang tianqiao short drama company, the company behind "50 years old", revealed in an interview with the media that "50 years old" was a hit film produced by the company, and the final recharge amount was more than 10 million. after "flash marriage at 50" became popular, the company produced many middle-aged and elderly short dramas with the same theme, trying to replicate the hit myth. the same script was shot by different crews, but the final effect was not as popular as "flash marriage at 50", and the response was average.

one reason is also the high investment cost. the so-called "streaming" refers to guiding users to jump from advertisements to the mini program interface to watch and pay for micro-short dramas. public data shows that currently in the field of mini programs and short dramas, most of the cost is spent on streaming, which generally reaches 80%, and many reach 90%.

at the same time, arbitrary charges and false publicity often occur in the short drama market. data shows that there are more than 1,600 complaints on the black cat complaint platform, all of which revolve around issues such as arbitrary charges, consumption guidance, malicious deductions, false propaganda, and difficulty in withdrawing cash.

industry insiders said that china's short drama market is huge and meets the needs of today's fast-paced consumer groups. however, short drama producers produce too many shoddy short dramas and plagiarize each other, resulting in too much homogeneous content. some high-quality short dramas are also being submerged in it makes the short play track narrow and eclipsed. many viewers will also label the short play track "low quality" and "vulgar". "if the short drama track wants to develop in the long term, it must not only improve the quality of production, but also be more innovative in content."

at present, the short drama market for middle-aged and elderly people is still in a hot window period. but whether it can continue to prosper in the future depends on whether the short drama producers can continue to make breakthroughs in quality and innovation.

xiaoxiang morning news reporter li xuanzi

(source: xiaoxiang morning news)

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