By Hernan Lopez.
Companies mentioned: Amazon, ByteDance, Disney, DramaWave, Holywater, iHeartMedia, Meta, Netflix, Paramount, Runway, Spotify, TikTok, Warner Bros. Discovery, Whatnot, YouTube
Questions answered: How big is the vertical video economy in 2026, and why do three companies own 94% of it? Why did three free ad-supported apps go from 15% to 83% of global ex-China microdrama time spent in a year? What happens to time spent when new releases grow 5x? What can film and TV studios take from vertical's AI rush?
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“If you’re spending a hundred million dollars on making one feature film, imagine spending it on 50 movies,” said Runway’s founder in April, in a comment that did not endear him to Hollywood. “Same quality, but you make way more content. So you have way better chances of hitting something. It’s a quantity problem.”
I’ll come back to how that ties into the Vertical Economy Report we’re publishing today, and what lessons TV and Film can take from vertical’s AI rush.But let’s start with the big picture...