Chinese digital publisher COL launches microdrama distribution division
Microdrama From Rags to Rank One has racked up over a billion views in China
Chinese digital publishing company COL Group has launched a content distribution division as it seeks to position itself as the world’s largest reseller of microdramas.
COL has unveiled what it claims to be the world’s largest microdrama distribution hub amid a boom in interest in shortform scripted content as viewing on smartphones skyrockets.
With over 1,000 titles available in English and Chinese languages, COL is offering broadcasters, streamers, telcos and digital platforms a readymade library of serialised shortform content.
As well as creating its own microdramas, COL manages its own shortform video platforms including FlareFlow, Sereal+ and Unireel.
Microdramas on these platforms include titles such as Finding Love After I Die, The Day I Gave Birth I Got Divorced, Midlife Sparks With a Billionaire Taxi Driver, Yes Mr CEO We Have a Baby and Forbidden Love He’s My Brother.
Beijing-based COL Group is also the owner of Silicon Valley-based Crazy Maple Studio, which operates the popular microdrama app ReelShort and was last year named among Time’s 100 most influential companies of 2024.
Timothy Oh, general manager of COL’s South-East Asia operation, described the microdrama format as “the storytelling language of a mobile generation: fast, emotional and deeply immersive.”
With each episode under two minutes long, microdramas are characterised by attention-grabbing, fast-paced, soapy storylines that hook viewers in, with production costs that are a fraction of a TV drama.
Among COL’s most successful titles is From Rags to Rank One, a 105-episode historical epic that it said garnered over 238 million views in a single day and averaged 77 minutes of watch time per user, ultimately surpassing one billion cumulative views in China alone.
COL said it has already sold “significant volumes” of content across Asia and North America, and the launch of a formal distribution division will see the company move further into “more emerging digital-first markets.”
The publicly listed Chinese media group is also among the companies exploring the use of AI in the production of its microdramas to further speed up its pipeline of content.
The firm has already developed several AI-generated anime series and said it is actively integrating the tech into its production workflows.
“At COL, we combine IP ownership, creative development, platform operations and now global distribution – all under one roof. That gives us the insight and agility to help partners move quickly in a space where audience attention is won or lost in seconds,” said Oh, who has previously held leadership roles at Sony Pictures Television Networks Asia.
