The Vertical Drama Love Fan Survey 2025

This 103 page report shares findings from one of the first global, fan-led surveys on vertical dramas. Its goal is simple: to show who the audience is, how they watch, and what they think about current storylines, genres, and platforms.

Created and run independently by Jen Cooper (Vertical Drama Love), the survey is not linked to any platform. The results are openly available for fans, creators, producers, and industry teams who want a clearer understanding of the vertical drama audience.

The survey received 1,670 valid responses from fans worldwide.

Details about methodology used can be find within the report.

This report is being shared freely to ensure it reaches as many fans, creators, platforms, and industry teams as possible.

It also represents a substantial amount of independent work. If you find the report useful and would like to support the project, you’re welcome to “buy me a coffee”.

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Vertical Drama Love Fan Survey 2025 — In Summary

The 2025 Vertical Drama Love Fan Survey paints a clear and compelling picture of a global fan community who are emotionally invested, deeply loyal, and increasingly vocal about what they need from creators and platforms. Across every question and theme, five core truths emerge — truths that reveal why fans watch, why they stay, and why they sometimes leave.

1 Vertical dramas are an emotional lifeline

Fans aren’t casual viewers. Vertical dramas play a powerful role in helping people cope with stress, illness, grief, loneliness, and overwhelm. For many, they are a daily source of comfort and escape — a refuge they rely on, not just entertainment. This is the single strongest emotional driver in the entire survey.

2 Human connection is the heart of the industry

Fans stay for the people:

  • their favourite actors

  • the closeness, accessibility, and authenticity of the cast

  • the welcoming, supportive global fan community

Vertical dramas stand apart from traditional TV because the human presence feels intimate and real. Fans repeatedly emphasise that they do not want AI replacing actors — because the human connection is the product.

3 The biggest frustrations: cost, confusion, and too many apps

Fans feel overwhelmed by:

  • high and unpredictable pricing

  • the sheer number of apps (sometimes 20–80)

  • coin systems + subscriptions layered together

  • glitches, unclear paywalls, poor design

Affordability and app clarity aren’t just annoyances — they are a threat to long-term fan engagement and loyalty.

4 Fans are tired of violence, misogyny, and copy-paste storylines

Several harmful or repetitive tropes came up again and again as reasons fans stop watching:

  • slapping

  • banquet humiliation

  • violence against women

  • drugged-sex/pregnancy plots

Some viewers even consider quitting the medium entirely because of these patterns.

5 Fans want fresher, kinder, more diverse storytelling

Across thousands of comments, fans consistently asked for:

  • original plots

  • romcoms, fantasy, mystery, thrillers

  • better writing and improved production quality

  • more representation: racial diversity, LGBTQ+ (especially WLW), disabled characters, plus-size and older leads

They want stories with heart — not shock value.

Fans watch vertical dramas because they feel good — and they leave when the experience feels harmful, expensive, or repetitive.

This sentiment underlies every major trend in the survey.

These five themes appear across every question, in every section, in thousands of responses:

  1. Escape, comfort, and emotional relief

  2. Love for the actors, the intimacy, and the global community

  3. Frustration with cost, paywalls, and app overload

  4. Dislike of violence, misogyny, repetition, and abusive tropes

  5. Desire for fresher, higher-quality, more diverse storytelling

Conclusion

The Vertical Drama Love Fan Survey 2025 reveals a passionate, emotionally driven audience who feel seen and supported by vertical dramas — and who want the industry to evolve with care and creativity.

Fans are asking for two things above all else:

Care

in pricing, in storytelling, in how actors are treated, and in how platforms respect fans’ time, money, and emotional investment.

Creativity

in breaking away from harmful tropes, improving writing and production quality, and offering original stories with warmth, diversity, and humanity.