Live edition Vol. I · No. 35 Tuesday, 25 August 2026
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Markets & Countries · India

🇮🇳 Vertical Drama in India

$1.5B projected · Kuku TV >41% local share · male-skewed

The one large market where a local player leads. Kuku TV — built by Mebigo Labs alongside audio app Kuku FM — holds more than 41% of it on 36.7M monthly users, sells subscriptions rather than coins (INR 899 a year), and counts cricketer MS Dhoni as investor and ambassador. Its audience is over 90% male, the exact inverse of the Western apps. The group has filed confidentially for an IPO at ₹2,500–3,500 crore. India is also the fastest lane for foreign apps: NetShort grew 193% month over month in January 2026. Lumikai projects the market at $1.5B.

Key numbers

Metric Value Source
India SVOD subscriptions forecast 358M by 2030 Media Partners Asia · 2030
India — Interactive Media Growth Factor FY25-FY30 ~7x growth ($440M FY25 to $3.1-3.4B FY30) Redseer Strategy Consultants · 2030
India interactive media segment FY2030 $3.1-3.4B Storyboard18 2026 · 2030
Micro-drama market size projection (India) $4.5B Lumikai · 2030
India Audio OTT Market Size Projection $3.2 Bn Inc42 · 2030
India — Global Short Drama 2030 $24B Vertical Invasion 2026 · 2030

Other markets

China · United States · Southeast Asia · MENA · Latin America · Europe · Africa

India is a chapter in the report. 64 countries, ARPU, per-market forecasts — Vertical Invasion 2026.
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