Insightrackr has released the June 2025 Global Short Drama App Download and Revenue Rankings based on its monitoring data of the global mobile market.
The rankings are sorted according to the app downloads and overall revenue calculated by Insightrackr, presenting the Top 15 Short Drama Apps by Downloads and Top 15 Short Drama Apps by Revenues. It also dissects the advertising and creative strategies of the popular cases in June.
Spotlight Case Studies: Kuku TV / QuickTV / FlareFlow / RapidTV
Top 15 Short Drama Apps by Downloads
According to Insightrackr's app download rankings, DramaBox, Kuku TV, and RapidTV ranked as the top three apps by downloads in June.
Top Short Drama App Downloads – June 2025
- What's the Performance of New Entrants
QuickTV was the fastest-growing app by downloads in June, with a MoM growth rate of 467.43%, rising to 12th place. Notably, both QuickTV and Kuku TV are short drama apps developed in India.
Short Reels continued its strong momentum in June, climbing to 6th place with a 104.82% growth rate. Fun Drama saw a rebound in downloads, increasing by 131.41% MoM, and re-entered the Top 15.
However, HALOFUN’s MeloShort has seen a continued decline in downloads since May, dropping out of the Top 10.
Previously, Insightrackr provided an analysis of the above-mentioned apps. Click to review:
Top 15 Short Drama Apps by Revenues
According to Insightrackr's app revenue rankings, NetShort, DramaBox, and ReelShort continue to hold the top three spots in the revenue Top 15, with the leading group remaining relatively stable.
Top Short Drama App Revenue – June 2025
- What's the Performance of New Entrants
RapidTV by Kennedyy recorded the fastest revenue growth in June, with a MoM increase of 121.39%, climbing to 4th place in the rankings.
In addition to its rapid download growth, Short Reels also saw a significant revenue surge in June, with an 83.01% MoM increase—highlighting the continued effectiveness of its ad-based monetization (IAA).
Soda Reels maintained strong momentum after scaling up in April and May, with June revenue rising by 69.67%, securing a spot in the Top 15.
Previously,
Soda Reels’ ad revenue primarily came from Brazil, Indonesia, and South Korea, with the majority of ad impressions concentrated on TikTok. [Click
here to review.]
Short Drama Advertising Case Analysis
01 KuKu TV
- What are the Traffic Sources for the India-based App
Kuku TV is an India-based short drama app that primarily uses a subscription-based monetization model. Therefore, its user acquisition, download, and revenue sources are mainly concentrated in India and neighboring regions.
Overview of Kuku TV’s Advertising Strategy and Creative Approach
Data from Insightrackr’s real ad traffic monitoring shows that AdMob accounts for nearly 90% of ad impressions for Kuku TV. Key sub-channels include utility apps like PLAYit and Eyecon Caller ID & Spam Block, as well as casual games such as Block Blast!.
- How to Leverage Localization Advantages
The developer of Kuku TV is Mebigo Labs, who also created Kuku FM. Kuku FM has built a vast creator ecosystem and owns a large amount of content IP, providing a solid content foundation for Kuku TV.
Regarding creatives, Kuku TV’s ad campaigns feature original Indian local dramas. Given that India is a diverse country with multiple ethnicities and languages, Mebigo Labs, as a domestic company, naturally has a strong advantage in content localization.
Kuku TV translates, dubs, and adds subtitles to its shows and creatives in various languages. According to Insightrackr data, besides English, Kuku TV’s ad copy covers Indian local languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam.
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The Hindi creative
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The Bengali creative
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In the creative examples, Kuku TV mainly promoted a boss-tycoon comeback-themed drama called The Final Boss in June, which is a video adaptation of an audio IP. Two creatives used the same scene from the drama but featured subtitles and voiceovers in Hindi and Bengali, respectively.
02 Quick TV
- How to Leverage the Content Ecosystem for Growth
QuickTV is also an India-based short drama app from Mohalla Tech, the developer behind India’s popular social apps
ShareChat (a content-sharing platform) and
Moj (a short video platform).
The launch of QuickTV signals Mohalla Tech’s shift from UGC short videos toward a more structured and sustainable content ecosystem.
Overview of QuickTV’s Advertising Strategy and Creative Approach
QuickTV’s ad spend is minimal and focused mainly on Facebook and AdMob, indicating that paid user acquisition is not its primary download source.
User growth likely relies more on direct traffic from its parent company’s other two social platforms.
- How to Efficiently Localize Chinese-translated Drama Creatives
Based on the creatives released by QuickTV, besides original Indian dramas, QuickTV also distributes translated dramas from China, accounting for a significant portion.
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Original Indian drama creative
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Chinese translated drama creative
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Among these translated drama creatives, unlike Kuku TV’s approach of translating every line and re-dubbing, some of QuickTV’s translated content uses AI voice-over narration—a continuous AI-generated commentary summarizing the story. This proves to be a more efficient method for localizing creatives.
03 FlareFlow
Although not in the Top 15, FlareFlow still ranked 17th on Insightrackr’s short drama app download ranking for June, showing strong growth momentum. Starting in June, FlareFlow ramped up its user acquisition efforts, with daily active creatives rising to around 180.
Overview of FlareFlow’s Advertising Strategy and Creative Approach
FlareFlow adopts a strategy of wide-scale advertising across major global markets, with no single market dominating its ad spend. The United States, while ranking first in ad placement share, accounts for only 5.37%, followed closely by Poland and Malaysia, with relatively even distribution across markets.
In terms of performance, downloads and revenue are primarily driven by the United States, Brazil, and the Philippines. Among them, the U.S. contributes 15.2% of total downloads and 18.12% of revenue.
- Strategy for Running Translated Drama Ads on TikTok
In terms of traffic channels, according to real ad traffic data monitored by Insightrackr, FlareFlow relies almost entirely on TikTok for ad placements.
From a creative perspective, both local Western dramas and Chinese translated dramas are used as ad materials for FlareFlow.
One of the key translated dramas promoted in June was "Perdidos en los años dorados". FlareFlow ran ad creatives for this drama in multiple language versions, including Spanish, Korean, Japanese, and Thai.
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The Spanish creative
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The Japanese creative
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04 RapidTV
- How to Globalize User Acquisition Strategy
The newly promoted top-tier app RapidTV sees its highest revenue contribution from Thailand, accounting for 19.09%, followed by Brazil and Mexico.
Overview of RapidTV’s Advertising Strategy and Creative Approach
Back in the
January short drama app rankings,
Insightrackr analyzed
RapidTV, noting that its ad creatives were primarily targeted at Southeast Asia and Latin America, with
Indonesia and
Mexico as key markets.
By June, while RapidTV's downloads still mainly came from Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil, its ad placements had become more diversified. The top ad market—the U.S.—only accounted for 4.11%, followed by Japan and Brazil, indicating a shift toward a globalized user acquisition strategy.
In terms of advertising channels (excluding Facebook), RapidTV's impressions were almost evenly split between AdMob and TikTok, contributing 52.6% and 44.3% respectively.
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Pop-style creatives
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Countdown window creatives
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- Highlight the free offering with distinctive design
As a typical IAA product, RapidTV heavily emphasizes free viewing and a rich selection of drama content in its ad creatives. In addition to using various styles of pop fonts to highlight the “Free” message, some videos introduce an innovative design element—a small countdown window—to create a sense of urgency around limited-time free access, effectively driving downloads.
That’s all for this issue. For short drama apps, whether focusing on local markets or breaking through in emerging traffic markets before expanding globally, developing an efficient localized creative strategy remains the most critical factor for success.
In conclusion, amid increasing competition from free short drama products and intensified market reshuffling, leading apps continue to build strong competitive barriers through large-scale creative deployment, mature advertising strategies, and proven creative approaches.
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