Streaming service Viu has launched a new a vertical video section on its mobile app offering one to three minutes episodic micro-dramas. Named “Viu Shorts”, the content is presented in a similar format to the short-form content popularised by social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.
“We are thrilled to add a new facet to our service with the launch of Viu Shorts. This new feature brings viewers fast-paced storytelling in a one- to three-minute episodic format, complementing Viu’s … long-form series and movies,” said Janice Lee, CEO of Viu, in a statement on Monday.
“With these bite-sized dramas now part of our offering, we aim to engage our audience according to their content preferences and provide enjoyable viewing for every moment.”
The move by Viu, which operates in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Oceania and Africa, comes as traditional linear broadcasters and streaming services are increasingly forced to compete for eyeballs and advertising revenue with social media sites such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube that specialise in offering short-form content.
Speaking to TechCentral in an interview on Tuesday, Elouise Kelly, country manager for South Africa at Viu, said the decision to add short-form content onto Viu’s streaming platform was driven by market shifts in viewer preferences and behaviours.
“The thinking is that viewer consumption and habits have changed over the years, driven by access to short-form content on platforms like TikTok. We have also noticed a rise in the consumption of non-user generated short-form content through different apps like DramaBox and ReelShort,” said Kelly.
Key trends
“Since we are headquartered in Southeast Asia, where a lot of small content providers are making this type of content available, we thought we would be missing out on a key trend if we did not take advantage of it,” she added.
Another advantage for production studios is that while traditional TV series may take months to produce, micro-dramas are filmed in days and then released in batches of 50-100 “cliffhanger-heavy” episodes.
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According to Kelly, the first batch of Viu Shorts is dominated by Asian content, but English content from other parts of the world including Brazil will be added in the next few months.
“We are also in discussion with South African production houses around getting more localised content as Viu Shorts,” said Kelly.
Popularised in China, episodic shorts like those offered by Viu aim to balance the fast-paced tempo and bite-sized format of short-form entertainment users enjoy on social media with the attention to detail in script writing, set design, direction and cinematography typically offered by traditional broadcasters and streaming services.
On the consumption side, shorts allow viewers to consume content while on the go to “fill up spare moments in their day”. Platforms like Viu cater to young, internet-first audiences who spend much more time on their phones, compared to older audiences that are more inclined to make time to sit in front of a TV.
Kelly said for younger audiences, their phones “are an extension of their arm” and their viewing habits are forcing even traditional broadcasters to look at short-form content in a more serious light.
Part of the success of short-form content can be attributed to the higher rates of dopamine hits users can feel compared to watching traditional television. In the older programme schedule-driven paradigm of linear TV, viewers would typically wait a week to resolve the tension from a cliffhanger on their favourite TV show. Streaming provides more instant gratification by allowing users to binge, and shorts cram that binge into a much shorter period.
Kelly said Viu shorts vary in genre, ranging from romance and comedy to sci-fi and reality TV.
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“It definitely is content that viewers have already been consuming from a long-form perspective; now it is just being served to them in a way that is a lot quicker, a lot more intriguing and they don’t need the time commitment because an entire series can be binged to completion in an hour,” said Kelly. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media
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