01 Micro-series

The screen America binge-watches on its phone, counted every day.

Micro-series are scripted series told in vertical, phone-first episodes of a minute or two, sold by the episode or the month. A third of the country has seen one. The apps that carry them publish nothing about who watches. Crosswalk sees those people on their own phones: every service, every title, every paywall, every morning.

Talk to us about micro-series See the board

Also called microdramas, vertical dramas and short dramas. Included in the Crosswalk license.

The Crosswalk Micro-series board for the last 28 days: viewers, views, share, paying viewers, free-to-paid rate, finish rate, new and lapsed viewers for ReelShort, DramaBox, GoodShort, Peacock, DramaShorts, NetShort and aTwist, with the top titles across all services — The Micro-series board, September 29, 2026 to October 26, 2026.

02 The services

Seven services, one board.

Every service counted the same way for the same window: who watched, how much, who paid, how many were new and how many lapsed. September 29, 2026 to October 26, 2026. Peacock's hub is inside its subscription, so it carries no coin figures.

Service	Viewers	Views	Share of views	Paying viewers	Free to paid	New	Lapsed
ReelShort	9,460,951	137,479,447	33.7%	1,041,970	11.0%	1,589,724	952,676
DramaBox	9,003,670	106,187,029	26.0%	917,665	10.2%	670,260	608,635
GoodShort	5,370,815	70,559,086	17.3%	541,391	10.1%	575,377	351,666
Peacock	6,587,500	45,208,828	11.1%	in the subscription	n/a	573,072	279,279
DramaShorts	1,832,390	23,282,803	5.7%	561,077	30.6%	320,279	232,840
NetShort	2,075,669	21,548,037	5.3%	219,900	10.6%	395,506	216,852
aTwist	277,356	3,416,677	0.8%	45,379	16.4%	190,275	85,329

What this means. Three apps take three quarters of the views. Peacock's hub reached 6.6 million viewers in its first season inside a subscription people already pay for. aTwist, six weeks old, grew its audience 326% in the window.

03 The paywall

Ten free episodes, then the cliff.

Just One Kiss on ReelShort: 63% of starters reach the last free episode. 11% pay to see the next one. Across the coin apps the shape is the same.

61% of viewers who start a series reach its paywall
39% of those unlock the next episode; 11% put money in within a week
47% leave the title within 48 hours of the wall
A quarter of the leavers are back on free clips in two weeks

Share of starters still watching by episode for Just One Kiss on ReelShort: 63% at the tenth and last free episode, 11% at the eleventh — Share of starters still watching, by episode. Just One Kiss, ReelShort, last 28 days.

04 Who they are

Women lead, and half have kids at home.

The micro-series app audience against US adults, trailing 12 months.

01

61% women.

Women are 61.2% of app users, and the male share rose from 31.4% to 39.8% across the year as action and mafia titles grew.

02

Half are 25 to 44.

The largest group is 25 to 34 at 26.3%, with 35 to 44 close behind at 24.1%. Only 6.7% are 65 or older.

03

52% have children.

With 51.8% raising children at home, against 43.4% of US adults, the series fit the hour after the kids are down.

04

Middle income.

Four in ten earn $25,000 to $75,000, and one in seven earns $150,000 or more.

05

More Hispanic and Black.

Hispanic viewers are 20.6% and Black viewers 15.2%, both above their share of US adults. White viewers are 54.3%.

06

Genre picks the gender.

Billionaire romance runs 74% women and werewolf fantasy 65%, while action and mafia titles are 54% men.

05 How they arrive

Feed ads bring them in. The rail keeps them.

Where new app users came from in the last year, and how many of each door's arrivals were still active after 28 days. People who came looking stay at half again the rate of people a feed ad interrupted. The median path is nine days and three clips of one title before the install.

DoorShareKept

Facebook or Instagram ad31.6%38.7%

TikTok ad or clip27.4%41.2%

App store search or chart14.1%52.3%

YouTube clip or ad12.9%44.8%

Web search5.3%49.1%

Peacock hub rail3.8%57.6%

Other4.9%40.3%

Share of micro-series episodes played by hour of day: a third between 9pm and 1am — When they watch: share of episodes by hour of day. A third play between 9pm and 1am; 94% of plays are on a phone.

06 Shelf life

A title's whole life is two weeks.

Across 1,284 launches this year, views peaked on day four and sat at 13% of peak four weeks in. 71% of a title's first-60-day views land in its first two weeks.

The top 25 ReelShort titles take 54% of the service's plays
Titles in the top quarter for searches and shares in their first 72 hours reach 3.1 times the median audience over 28 days
A weekly streaming series still holds 58% of its audience in week four; a micro-series holds 29%

The micro-series launch curve: views peak on day four, fall to 29% of peak by day 14 and 13% by day 28 — The launch curve, 1,284 titles first seen January to September 2026.

07 What you get

The board every morning, the report every week.

Both are included in a Crosswalk license, for every seat on the company.

01

The daily board.

Every service and every title: viewers, views, share, who pays, where the paywall sits, who is new and who lapsed. Refreshed with yesterday's plays.

02

The weekly report.

The Micro-Series IQ report on Peacock, ReelShort, DramaBox, GoodShort and NetShort: what moved, what launched, what the audience did.

03

The audience behind it.

A Profile IQ on any title, service or lead: age, gender, income, location, and what else they buy, watch and use, indexed against the country.

04

The next question.

Ask Prometheus in chat: what a hub launch did for signups, the path from clip to paywall, viewership on any title.

08 Who it is for

Five buyers, one board.

Each one has a decision this year that nobody else can put a number on.

Streamers: Peacock, Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video: which titles and genres to carry, what the hub does to signups, and how its viewers differ from the apps' viewers.
The apps: ReelShort, DramaBox, GoodShort, NetShort, DramaShorts, aTwist: share against the field, the paywall by title, who lapsed and where they went.
Studios and agencies: Who the format's stars are before the trades name them, which leads carry an audience to the next title, which genres are growing with men.
Brands: Who the 38 million are, when they watch, what they buy, and which placements reach the payers who open the apps 18 days a month.
Publishers: Wattpad, Kindle and the romance houses hold the format's feeder audience: 9.2 million romance readers already on the apps, paying at twice the rate.

Next to the others. Rankers IQ is the board for free TV, streaming, music, podcasts and gaming. Profile IQ is the audience behind any one title. Micro-series is the board for the newest screen.

09 Questions people ask

Micro-series, in plain words.

What is a micro-series?

A micro-series is a scripted series told in vertical, phone-first episodes of one to three minutes, usually fifty to a hundred of them, sold by the episode or by the month. The format is also called a microdrama, a vertical drama or a short drama.

Which apps carry micro-series in the US?

ReelShort, DramaBox, GoodShort, NetShort, DramaShorts and aTwist are the dedicated apps. Peacock added a micro-series hub inside its own app in 2026, and clips of every title run on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

How many people in the US watch micro-series?

In the twelve months to October 2026, 103.3 million US people saw a micro-series clip or episode, 61.5 million watched three or more episodes of one series, 38.3 million used a dedicated app or the Peacock hub, and 5.4 million paid.

Who watches micro-series?

Women are 61% of app users and men are the fastest-growing share. Half are 25 to 44, half have children at home, and 94% of plays happen on a phone, a third of them between 9pm and 1am.

How do micro-series make money?

Most apps give the first ten or so episodes away and charge coins per episode or a monthly pass after that. About 61% of viewers reach that paywall on a series they start, 39% of them unlock the next episode and 11% put money in within a week.

Does Crosswalk measure Peacock's micro-series?

Yes. Peacock's hub sits on the same board as the apps, counted the same way: viewers, views, share, finish rate, new and lapsed viewers. The weekly Micro-Series IQ report covers Peacock, ReelShort, DramaBox, GoodShort and NetShort.

Where does the data come from?

From the Crosswalk panel: 10 million US people whose digital lives are observed every day, projected to the US population. The board refreshes every morning with yesterday's plays.

How do I get the Micro-series board and the Micro-Series IQ report?

Both are included in a Crosswalk license. Talk to us and we will open the board for your team.

10 Talk to us

Count the screen everyone is watching.

We will open the board for your team and walk you through the first week's report.

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