Kuku, one of the first Indian start-ups to tap into this interest, is generating revenue, said Gagan Goyal, partner at venture capital fund India Quotient, which has invested in it.
“People are paying for the content,” said Goyal, but did not share numbers.
Kuku wants to reach the millions of Indians who moved directly from television sets to smartphones for entertainment, skipping personal computers in between.
“We are in the fourth video-content evolution wave since cinema halls were established, which is mobile-first premium content viewing,” says Lal Chand Bisu, co-founder and CEO of Kuku.
Currently, a micro-drama running into some 50 episodes is made with a budget of 1-1.5m rupees ($10,878-$16,316).
“It is like creating a dozen 90-120 minute films (the usual length of a full micro-drama) with the budget of one blockbuster movie,” Goyal says.
Micro-drama audiences are more likely to find the content through ads on Instagram and Facebook, more than YouTube which is still home to much longer videos.
While this is how audiences enter the picture, keeping them interested is a harder task.
“If a viewer is not entertained in seconds, then they either switch the show or the platform,” says Kuku’s Bisu.
Research shows many viewers turn to short videos during quick intervals including office lunch breaks and when they travel. That means micro-dramas need to hook viewers in very little time and not offer complicated plot lines.
And even if a viewer does watch an entire show, the next challenge is getting them to stay on the platform and move on to the next drama.
Most platforms try to get around this by creating and showcasing hundreds of shows to binge on.
