VERTICAL DRAMAD O S S I E R
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Keep this beside the screen

The language of the format.

Twelve working definitions for following the story and understanding the business around it.

Vertical drama
A scripted serial designed for portrait viewing, usually on a phone. The continuing story distinguishes it from an isolated short clip.
9:16
An aspect ratio nine units wide and sixteen high. It describes the frame, not the genre, duration or business model.
Microdrama
A broad label for short dramatic serials. Sources may use it for different episode lengths and screen shapes; check their definition.
Cliffhanger
An episode ending that leaves a meaningful question unresolved. Suspense depends on the viewer understanding the stakes.
Status reversal
A change in who holds social, financial or emotional power. Hidden identities and inheritance plots can use this as a recurring engine.
IAP
In-app purchase. A payment channel, not a complete measure of a platform’s revenue or a producer’s earnings.
Coin unlock
Access paid for using a platform currency. The cash cost depends on the offer, bundle, bonuses and number of locked episodes.
Ad-supported viewing
Viewing funded partly or wholly by advertising. It should not be assumed to mean every chapter is free in every market.
User acquisition
The process of bringing people to an app or service, including paid advertising and unpaid discovery. An install is not a paying viewer.
Retention
The proportion of a defined user group returning after a specified interval. Comparisons need the same interval and definition.
Local original
A production made for a particular market. This differs from translating or dubbing an existing series for that market.
Adaptation rights
Permission to transform an existing work into another form, within defined terms. Ownership of an app does not establish ownership of every story it carries.

Next / A closer look

Put the terms to work.