📱 The Rise of Vertical Series

How short stories are driving $11B in global revenue in 2025 | Streaming in Short – W43

Yann Colleter

Oct 24, 2025

This week, I cover vertical series hitting $11B, Shahid streaming Kings Cup MENA for free, and Netflix losing ground to piracy in MENA

🎬 Microdramas to Reach $11B in 2025

👉 Maria Rua Aguete from Omdia reveals that microdramas are becoming a key part of the digital entertainment ecosystem.

📍 The format is expected to generate $11 billion in global revenue in 2025. Over 60% of revenue comes from subscriptions or pay-per-view, with some users spending up to $80 a month. China leads with 83% of total revenue, followed by the US, Japan, South Korea, UK, and Thailand.

💡 By mixing the speed of social media with the emotion of TV drama, microdramas are redefining how audiences connect with stories, short, emotional, and made for mobile.

⚽ Shahid to Stream Kings Cup MENA for Free

👉 MBC Group has signed a new deal with Gerard Piqué Kings League to broadcast the Kings Cup MENA live and free on MBC Action and Shahid.

📍 The tournament, the first official competition of Kings League MENA, runs from October 24 to November 15, featuring 5 days of seven-a-side football.

💡 With its digital-first, youth-focused format, Kings League MENA could become one of the region’s most-watched sports events.

Kings League MENA lands in Saudi Arabia with full Kings DNA

🎥 Piracy Overtakes Netflix in MENA

What happened?

👉 A new report from Piracymeter shows that the MENA region is now the number one hotspot for Netflix piracy, the only region where illegal sites appear more often than Netflix itself in Google search results.

Key details:

In MENA, pirate links appear in 96% of top Google results (44% globally).
Countries like Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Iraq, Morocco, and the UAE rank among the highest for piracy visibility.
The Witcher, Money Heist, Wednesday, and Squid Game are among the most pirated titles.
Because 90% of users click on Google’s first results, this means many viewers land on illegal sites instead of Netflix.

Why it matters?

🎯 Piracy is not just about free access anymore, it’s about who controls the audience’s first click. Netflix and local streamers will need to invest more in SEO, local pricing, faster translations, and regional partnerships to bring viewers back to legal platforms.

📺 CREATORS: YouTube Creators Join Free TV Platforms

Free streaming services Tubi and Roku are turning YouTube hits from stars like MrBeast, Steven He, and Alan Chikin Chow into FAST channels and on-demand shows. Viewers can now watch their favorite creators on TV.

The goal is to bring the creator world to television, helping online stars reach bigger audiences and making YouTube-style videos part of everyday TV entertainment.

🧠 AI: Channel 4 Uses AI Presenter for the First Time

Channel 4 Dispatches made TV history with Will AI Take My Job?, the first British show hosted by an AI presenter. Viewers saw what looked like a real reporter, until the end, when it was revealed that the presenter was fully created by AI.

The episode shows how real and advanced AI humans have become. Channel 4 says it was a one-time experiment to make people think about what we can trust on screen.

🏎️ SPORTS: Apple Becomes Exclusive Formula 1 Partner in the U.S.

Apple has signed a five-year deal to bring all Formula 1 races exclusively to Apple TV in the United States starting next year. Apple TV will stream every practice, qualifying, Sprint, and Grand Prix, with select races available for free.

F1 content will also appear across Apple News, Maps, Music, Fitness+, and the Apple Sports app, offering fans live stats, leaderboards, and real-time race updates.

⚽ SPORTS: DAZN Partners with SMC to Grow in the Middle East

DAZN has chosen SMC as its exclusive reseller in the Middle East and North Africa to help expand its business and reach more fans across the region. SMC will handle DAZN’s commercial sales and local partnerships.

The partnership will help DAZN bring more global sports to local audiences and strengthen its position in MENA.

📊 ADS: The Trade Desk Champions Transparent Advertising in MENA

Terry Kane, MD for the Trade Desk Middle East & Africa, says programmatic ads in MENA are growing fast as brands demand more data-driven and transparent marketing.

The Trade Desk positions itself as an independent alternative to big tech, helping advertisers reach audiences across the open internet with better control, accurate targeting, and measurable results.

🎬 Johnny Depp Headlines Saudi Film Confex 2025

The 3rd edition of Saudi Film Confex opened in Riyadh with Johnny Depp delivering a masterclass titled “The Genius of Embodying Different Roles”. The session explores how Depp creates iconic characters that resonate with global audiences.

Running from October 22–25, the event gathers 130+ local and international exhibitors, from studios and investors to tech and AI firms.

🎥 DICM 2025 Opens on November 4 with Record Line-Up

The Dubai International Content Market (DICM) returns to Madinat Jumeirah on November 4–5 with the region’s top content buyers, including MBC, Shahid, OSN, STARZPLAY, TOD, Abu Dhabi Media, and Dubai Media.

This year welcomes new global players such as Unifrance, Indian studios like Shemaroo and NH Studioz, and pavilions from Turkiye, Korea, and Roskino. The DICM Talks will cover key trends, from Ramadan content and micro-dramas to sports rights and the global rise of Arabic cinema.

🏀 NBA on Prime Video: Prime Video is bringing NBA fans exclusive live games this season, delivering high-stakes matchups and exciting storylines straight to your streaming device. From early-season showdowns to key conference clashes, don’t miss the action on Prime.

🇺🇸 The Diplomat season 3, from Debora Cahn (Netflix, 8 episodes): Amid an international crisis, a US diplomat contends with her high-profile job as ambassador to the UK and her strained marriage to a political star.

🏘️ 21 years ago, Desperate Housewives premiered on ABC. Created by Marc Cherry, the dark comedy-drama pulled viewers onto Wisteria Lane, where picture-perfect lives hid secrets, scandals, and betrayals. Mixing mystery, humor, and suburban drama, the show redefined what prime-time television could be, and turned its leading cast into global icons. Desperate Housewives proved that behind every white picket fence, there’s a story worth watching.