Chennai: Sun TV Network aims to capture a slice of the growing micro-drama category and boost its subscription revenues by launching short-form content on its Sun NXT platform.On Friday, the company announced the launch, featuring a mix of originals and remastered content from its movie and television library across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. It plans to roll out more than 150 titles. These will range from exclusive micro-drama originals and dubbed international micro-dramas to TV serials recut into short form, and movies reformatted for fast-paced viewing. “That mix is deliberate, and it gives us both familiar IP to pull in our existing base and fresh original content to bring in new audiences,” said Rakesh CK, head of Sun NXT.The group, known for its long-running TV series, is betting on its massive distribution muscle and 65,000-hour content library to crack the short video format. It plans to remaster, resize, and re-edit select legacy content into fast-paced episodes. When asked whether Sun TV is late to enter the segment, Rakesh noted that the category is still young in India and most entrants so far have not focused on distribution. “We are not starting from zero. We are layering micro-drama onto a base of existing subscribers who already love our programming, content depth and decades of regional storytelling relationships. That is a very different cost structure and discovery problem than a standalone micro-drama app has to solve,” he explained.The company is evaluating subscription access as its primary model following an initial free period, alongside an advertisement tier featuring sponsored originals or brand integrations within specific series. “Audiences today want rich narrative depth but have a shrinking appetite for long setup times,” Rakesh said, adding, “We have built this with both linear and non-linear cuts. We are bringing short-format storytelling to television screens in a 4:3 format, an industry first for micro-drama in India. We have designed the aspect ratio by device. This is not just about reformatting our library; it is a dual play, pairing our legacy catalogue, which already commands deep emotional equity, with fresh originals conceived entirely for this medium.”This move comes as Sun TV Network faces intensifying competition in the digital streaming business from both global and Indian players, alongside the compression of average revenue per user (ARPU) for direct-to-consumer subscriptions due to telecom bundling. Last year, JioHotstar announced a Rs 4,000 crore investment to expand in the southern region with exclusive shows and titles. Furthermore, a host of new entrants, including former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran’s Maran Group, are also venturing into the micro-drama space.Sun TV has reported a revenue of Rs 1,423.4 crore for Q1FY27, posting an y-o-y increase of 13%. This growth was predominantly driven by the company’s cricket franchises, including SunRisers Hyderabad and SunRisers Eastern Cape, which contributed Rs 629.8 crore. Advertisement revenues for the quarter stood at Rs 282.5 crore, a slight decline from Rs 289.9 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. However, domestic subscription revenues for the quarter were higher by 3%, reaching Rs 485.5 crore compared to Rs 470.1 crore the previous year.
