{
  "id": 11823193,
  "title": "Quality over quantity: China’s AI microdrama producers battle viewer fatigue",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/04/quality-over-quantity-chinas-ai-microdrama-producers-battle-viewer-11823193",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-04T02:00:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SCMP Business",
    "slug": "scmp-business",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3368700/quality-over-quantity-chinas-ai-microdrama-producers-battle-viewer-fatigue"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Two decades after retiring from acting, actress Joey Wong made an unexpected comeback to the screen through AI-powered reconstruction. This revival is indicative of a wider shift towards AI-generated short dramas in China's mini-drama market. These microdramas, known for their fast-paced storylines and frequent plot twists, typically last just a few minutes per episode. According to the National Radio and Television Administration, over 90% of the 430,000 microdramas launched online in the first eight months of the year were AI-generated.\n\nProducers attribute the rise of AI video-generation tools to the ability to bring to life action-packed, suspenseful, or fantastical narratives that would have been prohibitively expensive to produce through traditional live-action methods. Some fans are even willing to pay for higher-quality AI dramas, particularly those that can adapt popular online novels and games to the screen. However, others have grown tired of the repetitive nature of content, with many AI-generated dramas becoming carbon copies of one another.\n\nWhile AI video-generation allows for the creation of video, it does not guarantee the delivery of a complete series. Maintaining consistent characters, performances, and storytelling across dozens of episodes has proven difficult for studios, as noted by Robin Luo, founder of Synintell Pictures. As competition intensifies among studios with access to video-generation tools, the focus is shifting towards scriptwriting, directing, production workflows, and audience retention.\n\nRegulators and industry leaders have also turned their attention to live-action productions. The broadcasting regulator has called for platforms to establish dedicated sections for live-action productions and provide financial support for high-quality content. Major platforms, such as those operated by ByteDance and Kuaishou Technology, have pledged at least 6 billion yuan (US$894 million) to support live-action microdramas under a government-backed initiative.\n\nHowever, with AI-generated productions, oversight has tightened. A recent rule requires episodes to carry prominent labels identifying AI-generated content. Officials have also urged studios to obtain consent before using people's faces and voices in AI-generated content. Zhou Xiangxiang, founder of Moli OPC AI Comic Drama Base, has begun using authorized likenesses of her own staff and signing agreements with performers to create digital characters. While this approach may increase production costs slightly, it could significantly reduce platform review costs, as AI-generated characters that closely resemble real people often delay releases. Despite these challenges, Zhou's company has not yet experienced a noticeable change in business due to existing annual contracts with platforms.",
  "summary": "Two decades after stepping away from the spotlight, iconic actress Joey Wong made an unexpected return to the screen – not through a traditional production, but via artificial intelligence-powered reconstruction. In a two-minute video by NetEase this summer, Wong, one of the most well-known actresses of the 1980s and 90s, had some of her most celebrated roles recreated, including the beautiful…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post",
        "title": "Quality over quantity: China’s AI microdrama producers battle viewer fatigue",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/04/quality-over-quantity-chinas-ai-microdrama-producers-battle-viewer",
        "published": "2026-10-04T02:00:09.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}