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Start free trial →the culture journalist · Media & Creator Economy · October 2026
Asked who actually watches microdramas, Kolitz says the Gen Z claim looks like a media narrative, and that the people who make the shows describe a much older audience.
Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, the Gen Z thing is, I think, just a media narrative. It's not clear to me that Gen Z is watching these. I think, you know. You're
just supposed to say that.
Yeah, I think industry analysts are like, well, it's short and it's, you know, for people with wrecked attention spans. So it must be for Gen Z. But as we know, older people are even more destroyed by phones than to some degree. You know, talking to agents, talking to. Directors talking to people involved in the industry, they all say middle-aged Midwestern women, or maybe going somewhat younger, 35 to like 65. And I did meet the head of a fan club, Megan Johnson, who's since become a microchamber consultant, who is a true blue Midwestern woman who really did love the shows and seemed to have a community of people who love them as well. She felt a little bit like a front to me, like they'd kind of gone to Central Casting and found a woman who looked exactly like a middle-aged Midwestern white woman to pose as a representative of the audience.
She's based here in LA or she was no,
she's based in like Michigan, but they had flown her into LA for like a panel that was happening when I was in town. But yeah, I mean, as far as who actually is watching them, I mean, I think a large percentage even for the audience for even the English language microdramas is outside of the United…
Okay.