Reality shows are shrinking to 90 seconds. Can microdramas make them work?

“But the more important difference isn’t just that it’s cheaper. It’s what cheaper lets you do. Because an unscripted microdrama is so much faster and easier to produce than a traditional reality show, we can experiment with many formats quickly rather than betting everything on one expensive show. We can put out a range of unscripted ideas, watch how audiences actually respond, and let real viewing behaviour tell us which formats have legs,” said Sabarish Venkat, chief executive officer, Kadhaishorts, a microdrama platform focused on Tamil storytelling.