2026-11-06

Short drama & webnovel brief, Nov 6: China files 159 Class-I dramas for Oct, AI rewrite gray market exposed, Mediaset opens free microdrama tab

DataEye Research (via Sina Entertainment, November 3) and The Paper (November 4) report that China's regulator posted 159 key/Class-I online microdramas in the October 2026 planning filing, down from 224 in September, with legend/xianxia-style titles about 34% and justice titles third at about 9%; China Writer Network on November 5 reprinted a Publishers magazine feature saying AI rewriting and reskinned adaptations have grown into a webnovel-IP gray market aimed at short-drama and comic-drama downstreams; the same week Italy's Mediaset Infinity launched a free Microdrama section and US outlet TV News Check covered KSA Entertainment's VueWho as a microdrama FAST channel. Creators should check Class-I filing trends, upstream rights clearance, and non-mobile European/North American outlets. We could not find the NRTA's own October Class-I notice page, and gray-market and overseas catalogue details rest on media reports.