ReelShort, the U.S.-based microdrama app that has become one of the format’s global leaders, has struck a distribution deal with Globe, a major Philippine telecom operator. The pact is ReelShort’s second Southeast Asian carrier tie-up in two months, as it aggressively pursues the region’s mobile-first audiences. The partnership, unveiled at the APOS conference in Bali, will fold ReelShort’s library of soapy, bite-sized dramas into Globe’s offering for Filipino customers.
Globe, whose principal shareholders are the Philippines’ Ayala Corp. and Singapore’s Singtel, will open ReelShort up to its subscribers in a market that consistently ranks among the world’s heaviest users of mobile internet. The deal was brokered by AR Global Media Network, which ReelShort has named its exclusive distribution representative in Southeast Asia.
The Globe pact echoes ReelShort’s first moves in the region in April, when it teamed with Thailand’s AIS — bundling a co-branded, steeply discounted subscription into the carrier’s mobile plans. For a service built on impulse viewing, telco deals buy instant reach and built-in billing in price-sensitive markets where persuading users to sign up directly can be hard. In Thailand, the AIS add-on was priced at about $1 a month, against ReelShort’s standard rate of roughly $17.50.
“Following the tremendous response we received in Thailand, partnering with Globe in the Philippines is a significant milestone in our regional growth strategy,” said Joey Jia, CEO of Crazy Maple Studio, ReelShort’s parent company.
Founded in 2022, ReelShort says it reaches more than 70 million monthly users across 100-plus countries, with a library of nearly 3,000 titles built on the genre’s staples — billionaire romances, revenge sagas and cliffhanger-driven melodrama. (One revenge hit, Bound by Honor, has drawn hundreds of millions of views, the platform says.) ReelShort made its name selling reasonably well-produced, English-language microdramas to Western audiences, a contrast to the Chinese platforms that pioneered the form. Crazy Maple Studio is headquartered in Silicon Valley but counts China’s COL Group as its largest outside shareholder, at a stake of roughly 49 percent.
The Southeast Asian push sees ReelShort face a crowded field, with China’s DramaBox its closest rival, as the top microdrama players rush to grab market share in fast-growing mobile markets. For all the breakneck user growth, though, the microdrama business has yet to prove broadly profitable, with heavy outlays on content and marketing weighing on many operators.
For Globe, the deal extends a content-bundling strategy meant to keep mobile subscribers engaged beyond connectivity.
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