Over half of respondents find mini-dramas ‘roughly made’

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Receiving feedback from more than 1,000 participants, a survey that was co-conducted by organizations like wenjuan.com has recently revealed that over 50 percent of Chinese youngsters consider current mini-dramas online are "roughly made" and "lack logical coherence." 

Young people are the major consumers of web mini-dramas in China on platforms like Bilibili and Douyin. The survey, which focuses on this biggest fan base, has also revealed other less promising figures such as over 37 percent of young fans criticizing that there are "very few top-products" in the industry. 

As its name implies, a mini-drama can easily break down into over 100 episodes, with the length of each episode ranging from 10 seconds to one or two minutes.

An industry insider who asked to remain anonymous told the Global Times that producing a 100-episode mini-drama can be completed "in even less than a month." 

She emphasized that those mini-dramas are like "tasty pre-made food" that are not meant to be "healthy," but just for "feeding watchers' appetite for overly dramatic stories." 

Zhang Yiwu, a Chinese language and literature professor at Peking University, told the Global Times that mini-dramas "satisfy viewers' imagination about stories that are from their everyday lives but far more dramatic than reality."

"Ba Zong," more commonly known as the bossy successful entrepreneur, is a popular persona in many mini-dramas. It relates to people's careers yet provides viewers with a Mary Sue-like character. 

Perhaps because mini-dramas are exciting but less time-consuming to watch, the related industry has expanded quickly. 

In 2023, the industry reached over $37.00 billion. In the third quarter of this year, 150 mini-dramas debuted, nearly double the total in 2022, according to an industry report provided by iiMedia. 

As the market has expanded, problems have emerged that need to be tackled through regulations. A specific regulation that addresses the production and content in the web mini-drama industry was recently issued by China's National Radio and Television Administration. 

While emphasizing the industry's "self-discipline," the regulation also initiated a "targeted rectification agenda" aimed at getting rid of harmful content such as mini-dramas that contain pornography. 

The regulation also indicates that "recommendation algorithms" on platforms need to be adjusted too. It also recommended that apps and mini-programs streaming mini-dramas need to be further supervised. 

The regulation has been reposted by platforms like Bilibili, Douyin and WeChat. Nearly 1,000 mini productions on these platforms have been taken down due to misguiding themes such as "promoting extreme revenge," and "potential anti-social content." 

Go Queen Go, one of the year's most popular dramas that depicts an ancient woman's revenge story, has been taken down. The production had quite the following, with its paid content attracting 20 million yuan in revenue the first day it debuted. 

So far, a total of 429 mini programs and 2,988 accounts have been eliminated from online platforms due to their harmful content. 

Wanghe Minjun, an entertainment industry insider, told the Global Times that the regulation was not just for eliminating existing harmful content, but also a "solution helping the industry establish a better system that helps with its growth." 

"Punishing inappropriate mini-drama content does not mean we are punishing the industry. The industry has a lot of potential to become an emerging iconic sub-field in China's entertainment industry," Wanghe told the Global Times. 

It is estimated that the scale of China's web mini-drama industry will reach 100 billion yuan in the next five years.