New research from Digital i reveals a striking shift in YouTube viewing habits, with women aged 35 and over driving a significant surge in microdrama consumption, while male audiences show notably lower engagement across all age groups.
Presented at Series Mania Forum in Lille, the findings highlight how short-form serialized content is resonating strongly with older female viewers, signaling a growing and highly targeted trend in the global digital entertainment landscape.
Digital i examined the demographic data of viewers to the official YouTube channels of popular microdrama apps DramaBox, ReelShort, FlickReels, My Drama and CandyJar, during 2025.
Engagement was measured in 20 countries including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Poland, The Netherlands, Japan, South Korea and Australia.
Digital i found that female YouTube users spent a higher proportion of their time on these microdrama channels than their typical overall YouTube usage.
Notably, female YouTube users aged 35-44 accounted for 11.5% of all streams in the 20 measured countries last year, but 20.8% of streams to these five microdrama channels.
The 45-54 female age group also showed heavy over-engagement, with 15.7% of streams to the channels coming from this demographic, more than double their 7.7% share of overall YouTube streams.
The reverse was true for male YouTube users across these measured countries, demonstrating viewing way below average consumption. Notably, males aged 18-24 represented 13.7% of all YouTube streaming activity in 2025, but only 6.0% of streams to these microdrama channels.
Digital i also found that YouTube users who viewed content on these microdrama channels watched more content on the platform overall last year.
While a typical YouTube user watched an average of 10.9 standard videos and 14.7 Shorts per day during 2025, viewers of those five microdrama channels watched 13.8 standard videos and 21.5 Shorts per day during the same period.
“Our latest research provides a major insight into how specific demographics are migrating toward ultra-short-form scripted content,” said Digital i analyst Sam Vahdati. “The fact that women over 35 are not only heavily over-engaging with microdrama channels but that viewers of these channels are also significantly more active across the entire YouTube platform demonstrates the power of this content as an overall engagement driver.
“Understanding these high-engagement viewers is essential for navigating an increasingly fragmented global market.”
