Casablanca-based Orange Middle East & Africa has signed a multi-year deal to distribute ReelShort’s vertical microdramas through Max It TV, the entertainment section of its Max It app, across 17 markets in Africa and the Middle East. A first wave will launch by the end of 2026, with a phased roll-out in the remaining territories. The companies have not disclosed financial terms or named the launch markets.
ReelShort is operated by COL Group-backed Crazy Maple Studio. Its catalogue of vertical series spans drama, romance and thrillers. Customers will not buy a separate subscription; they can access the content by purchasing a dedicated Orange mobile data bundle.
The reach arithmetic
Orange says Max It TV is available in 17 countries and now reaches 39 million users. The potential audience is larger: Orange serves more than 180 million mobile customers across the same markets, and the company frames that base as ReelShort’s addressable reach.
“Welcoming ReelShort is a clear signal of where we are heading: one platform that brings the best of global and local content to millions of customers,” said Ben Cheick Haidara, deputy CEO of Orange Middle East & Africa.
Joey Jia, founder and CEO of Crazy Maple Studio, said the operator push is scaling quickly. “In under a year, our operator footprint has expanded to reach nearly 450 million mobile subscribers including Orange’s customers,” he said.
Why a telco bundle changes the model
The biggest strategic detail is the billing path. In mobile-first markets, requiring a separate app-store subscription or card payment can depress take-up. Attaching ReelShort to a data bundle moves the cost to the phone bill, where customers already transact.
- 17 markets across Africa and the Middle East, with a first wave by end-2026.
- 39 million current Max It TV users; 180 million Orange mobile customers in scope.
- ReelShort’s cumulative operator footprint: nearly 450 million mobile subscribers.
- Access is sold as a dedicated mobile data bundle, not a standalone subscription.
What to watch next
The first real test is execution. Media planners should track which markets Orange selects, how the data bundle is priced and whether ReelShort adapts its catalogue for Arabic and French-speaking audiences. The deal also suggests that telco bundling is becoming a serious discovery and billing channel for microdrama, not simply a secondary distribution experiment.
For entertainment marketers, the deal is a reminder that reach numbers are not the same as paying accounts. A 180-million mobile base is a ceiling, not a forecast. The conversion question is whether bundling short episodes with data produces habitual viewing, and that will not show until the first markets report data.
Source: C21media
