Viu launches Viu Shorts, offering vertical micro-dramas across multiple languages

Hong Kong — Viu, PCCW’s video streaming service, has launched a new vertical video section on its mobile app called ‘Viu Shorts’, providing viewers with bite-sized dramas in a 1–3 minute episodic format. The move expands Viu’s existing library of long-form series and movies.

Janice Lee, CEO of Viu and managing director of PCCW Media Group, said, “We are thrilled to add a new facet to our service with the launch of Viu Shorts. This new feature brings viewers fast-paced storytelling in a 1–3 minute episodic format, perfectly complementing Viu’s extensive offering of premium long-form series and movies. 

Janice added, “With these bite-sized dramas now part of our offering, we aim to engage our audience according to their content preferences and provide enjoyable viewing for every moment.”

Moreover, Viu Shorts offers a multi-lingual and multi-genre library of micro-dramas in Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Indonesian, spanning genres such as romance, thriller, variety, and fantasy, all with subtitles in local languages. 

The vertical video section is also optimised for mobile and integrated into the Viu app, featuring a new bottom navigation bar that allows users to switch easily between short-form content and standard-length series and movies. The service operates on a freemium model, with all Viu users able to access Viu Shorts. With this, subscribers can use unlimited viewing of the full library, and free users are able to watch selected titles; advertisement frequency varies by subscription tier. 

To maintain a steady stream of content, Viu has partnered with micro-drama distributors Rising Joy and KT Studiogenie, as well as producers including China Huace, 1001 Frames, and Youhug Media.

Furthermore, the launch of Viu Shorts is part of Viu’s mobile-first strategy, responding to the increasing demand for short-form, on-the-go entertainment while maintaining the premium quality associated with the service.

The updated Viu app, including the new Shorts section, is available for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.