EXCLUSIVE: The most-engaged vertical video viewers are primarily led by their favorite actors and watch the medium daily, according to a fan study, which found the vast majority of audiences would say no to AI-created content.
Vertical Drama Love‘s Fan Survey 2025 polled respondents primarily from western countries and revealed nearly 64% of viewers watched content daily, with another 25% watching “several” times a week.
Many admitted to watching the videos for several hours a day, with ReelShort, DramaBox, Vigloo and GoodShort by far the most popular apps. A significant number of fans will have upwards of 40 vertical video apps on their phones.
Compared with a year ago, nearly 63% said they are watching more vertical dramas, citing the addictive short-form format, loyalty to actors, better production values and acting, and the general increase in output. Only 7.8% said they view fewer, citing mounting costs, repetitive storylines and unpleasant storyline themes such as bullying, misogyny and violence.
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Lead actors such as Fated to My Billionaire Call Boy star Noah Fearnley were by far the most important element for respondents, with almost 88% saying this helps them decide what to watch, ahead of lead actresses (68.8%), scrolling (56%) and their general mood (41.1%). Notably, trending shows was only a factor for 23.4% of respondents.
Fearnley is among an emerging group of microdrama actors in Hollywood, alongside the likes of Nick Rittacco and Alyona Real all gaining traction. He has appeared in upwards of 60 vertical video series, having initially appeared in youth-skewing TV shows such as Morgan’s Secret Admirer and Lifetime movies including Mother’s Deadly Son before moving into microdramas.
The connection with actors was further highlighted by only 5.6% responding that they would be open to watching AI-created content if it had a strong story, with 70.2% saying no. The key reason for this was the lack or loss of human actors, and fears over job replacement. AI acting was also described as lifeless, emotionless, robotic and fundamentally unable to replicate human nuance.
In terms of storylines, ‘romantic comedies’ and ‘romantic drama’ topped the list, followed by ‘mafia’, ‘forbidden love’ and ‘family.’ Almost 44% said romance was ‘essential’ to vertical drama. The ‘enemies to loves’ trope was the most popular, followed by ‘fated mates’, ‘billionaires’ and ‘contract relationships.’
The study highlighted the recency of the vertical drama boom in the west, with over 20% of respondents saying they had been watching for less than six months, and nearly 40% between six and 12 months. Less than 9% had watched for more than two years. That compares with the long-term popularity in parts of Asia.
Social media has been the key marketing platform for the format, with nearly 65% saying it had first made them aware of it.
The study revealed nearly 84% vertical video fans use other paid-for streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+, but only 44% had been to the cinema in the past six months. Nearly 25% of viewers did not pay for content.
The report was piled by Jen Cooper from Vertical Drama Love, an independent organization dedicated to the format. Data was collected between October 25-November 10, with a total of 1,670 completed sets of responses and only offered in English. Almost all respondents were female, with two-thirds between the ages of 35 and 64, and more than half were from North America.