Lisbon, Mar. 2, 2026 (Lusa) - Five Portuguese fiction series, with episodes lasting just over a minute, designed to be viewed on mobile phones, premiere today on RTP platforms, following an international audiovisual phenomenon.
The five series are produced by SPi and will be available throughout this week on the RTP Play streaming platform and on RTP's social media. They are “Herança Fatal” (Fatal Inheritance), “A Casa dos Outros” (The House of Others), “Além do Silêncio” (Beyond Silence), ‘Sextortion’ and “Sabores de Amor” (Flavours of Love), and address topics ranging from domestic violence to the housing crisis.
Described as ‘microdramas’ or ‘microseries’, these productions are a recent, innovative format at the international level, with stories designed to be viewed on mobile phones in vertical mode, accessible to viewers anywhere.
"The phenomenon has a lot to do with this, as consumption today is very diverse. Generalist television continues to have excellent audiences, but we know that there is a trend towards media diversification," screenwriter and producer Pedro Lopes, author of the project and content director at SPi, explained to the Lusa agency.
According to Pedro Lopes, the creation of these very short series stems from a window of opportunity and business in the face of the viewer's attention being dispersed across multiple screens.
“Rather than a strategy to recover audiences through traditional media, there is a production for different media, for different devices and, in this case, to meet the locations, so to speak, where the audience is also,” he explained.
Last week, RTP1's program director, José Fragoso, told the Lusa news agency that public television has invested in a “broad spectrum of activity in the area of fiction in very diverse areas, ranging from linear fiction that airs on television to fiction that airs only on the platform.”
The focus on these micro-series is part of the public broadcaster's strategy to reach more audiences, especially through streaming and its presence on social networks such as TikTok and Instagram.
“RTP Play is an essential tool today for reaching audiences, because nowadays, many people have smart TVs at home, as well as phones, computers, and iPads, and it is possible, through RTP Play, to watch a television series on a smart TV at home,” he said.
This partnership between SPi and RTP is considered pioneering in the general production of micro-dramas in Portugal, and Pedro Lopes explained that these first five series cover a wide range of genres and themes.
“We have a series on domestic violence, we have a series on the dissemination of intimate photographs on the Internet, for example. We have a series on the difficulty young people have today in renting a home in large urban centres and leaving their parents' home,” he said.
Pedro Lopes believes that this diversification of audiovisual consumption will continue and gave the example of China, where, in 2025, revenues from this format “far exceeded” cinema box office takings, and the TikTok platform created PineDrama, an exclusive app for micro-dramas.
“It is no coincidence that data was released this week showing that revenues from this area of micro-dramas and vertical fiction exceeded those of streaming platforms, for example. It is no coincidence that Disney also announced the incorporation of micro-dramas and vertical fiction into its own streaming platform,” he said.
For Pedro Lopes, the five SPi series for RTP, directed by Manuel Amaro da Costa, are more than a “laboratory for understanding the Portuguese market.”
“We believe that there is room in the Portuguese market for a new form of consumption, a new genre that is beginning to become widespread in different territories,” he said.
Last November, Variety magazine wrote that the micro-drama market could reach €22 billion in global revenue by 2030, but that there are still questions about costs for viewers, particularly regarding exclusive paid subscriptions to access this content.
Producer Ronan Wong, from Chinese micro-drama production company AR Asia, told Variety in November that this market is currently in its third phase of implementation, with more countries “developing their own micro-drama ecosystems” that reflect their cultural and social individuality.
SS/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
