{
  "id": 7721217,
  "title": "ByteDance’s AI-enhanced short-drama app eclipses China’s Netflix rivals combined",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/bytedances-ai-enhanced-short-drama-app-eclipses-chinas-netflix-rivals",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-16T06:00:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SCMP Business",
    "slug": "scmp-business",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3367664/bytedances-ai-enhanced-short-drama-app-eclipses-chinas-netflix-rivals-combined"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "ByteDance's AI-enhanced short-drama app, Hongguo, has surpassed China's major streaming platforms, including iQiyi, Tencent Video, Youku, and Mango TV, in daily viewership. The AI-powered platform, launched in 2023, has gained popularity due to a surge in AI-generated content and iterations of AI-animated dramas. As of July, Hongguo had 168 million daily active users (DAUs), more than double the DAUs of its four largest competitors, according to QuestMobile data cited by Nomura. This rapid growth highlights ByteDance's increasing control over Chinese consumers' attention and the declining viewership of traditional streaming platforms. Hongguo generates revenue through advertising and shares profits with creators. Despite criticism of short dramas for formulaic plots and uneven production, the format is gaining recognition from established filmmakers like Chinese director Jia Zhangke, who considers the success of a story to be based on form, not pedigree. On Monday, eight of the top 10 titles on Hongguo's popularity chart were AI-generated dramas or animated series, with a separate AI-animated series app reaching 16 million DAUs, up 37% from the previous month. ByteDance's services, including Douyin, Douyin Lite, Hongguo, Toutiao, and Fanqie Free Novels, accounted for 35% of the time users spent on the top 20 apps in July, marking ByteDance's dominant position in China's mobile sector.",
  "summary": "TikTok parent ByteDance has scored another hit in China with Hongguo, an artificial intelligence-powered short-drama platform. Launched in 2023, Hongguo quickly became a household name by riding China’s short-drama boom. A surge in AI-generated content propelled it past some of the country’s biggest professional streaming platforms, while iterations of AI-animated dramas – using AI video models…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "SCMP Tech",
        "title": "ByteDance’s AI-enhanced short-drama app eclipses China’s Netflix rivals combined",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/bytedances-ai-enhanced-short-drama-app-eclipses-chinas-netflix-rivals-7721257",
        "published": "2026-09-16T06:00:50.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "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."
}