Who publishes the app, what it charges in the US, where it ranks on revenue, and what is known of its merger with DramaBox
The US App Store and Google Play both list Singapore New Reading Technology Pte. Ltd. as the seller, and Google Play gives its address in Suntec Tower Three, Singapore. On Google Play the developer page carries the name GoodNovel, and the same publisher lists GoodNovel, MeguNovel, BueNovela, GoodFM and Shortoo on the App Store. The terms of use of goodshort.com name a different Singapore company, Singapore INKNET Pte. Ltd., as the operator of the website. No page read links the two companies.
| Level | Entity | Source |
|---|---|---|
| App | GoodShort | App Store, Google Play |
| Publisher | Singapore New Reading Technology Pte. Ltd., founded in December 2019 | App Store, Google Play; founding date from Jiemian |
| Holding | TAP FUTURE, Cayman Islands, 100% of the publisher | Jiemian (13 October 2026), citing the Singapore company register and Qichacha |
| Chinese group | Beijing New Reading Era (北京新阅时代): Hu Zexin 45%, Xu Xu 44% |
Hu Zexin, presented as GoodShort's founder, was CTO of Dianzhong Technology (The Paper), whose chairman later described the merger with DramaBox. The ownership chain above comes from the press, which cites the registers; Streaming Lens has not read the registers themselves. No listed company was found for GoodShort. Series-level coverage of the app lives on verticaldrama.tv.
In-app purchases listed on the US App Store, checked on 10 November 2026:
| Offer | Price | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly VIP | $5.99 · $9.99 · $19.99 | membership, weekly |
| Weekly Membership, Weekly subscription | $19.99 | membership, weekly |
| Coins | 500 for $4.99 · 1,000 for $9.99 · 1,500 for $14.99 · 2,000 for $19.99 · 2,500 for $24.99 | coin pack |
Sources: US App Store listing (10 November 2026). The listing shows ten in-app purchases at most, so other offers may exist. Google Play does not list its prices on the web page.
Every coin pack listed works out at about one cent a coin. No monthly or annual plan appears among the offers listed on the US store. At $19.99, the top weekly plan costs the same as DramaWave's weekly membership and $10 less than FlexTV's.
No revenue figure published by GoodShort or its parent was found. What exists is third-party measurement: in-app purchases for Sensor Tower, in-app purchases plus advertising for Insightrackr.
| Measure | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank on in-app revenue, worldwide | 5th (DramaBox 1st) | Q1 2026 | Sensor Tower, as reported by Jiemian |
| Top countries by in-app revenue | United States, Japan, Brazil | Q1 2026 | Sensor Tower, via Jiemian |
| Rank on revenue, in-app purchases and ads | 6th, revenue +8.57% on the month | August 2026 | Insightrackr |
| Share of revenue from the US | 66% | to February 2024 | Sensor Tower, as reported by Beijing News |
In March 2026 a guest article about Hao Chen, head of studio, in LA Weekly stated that GoodShort “generated approximately $220 million in revenue” in 2025. This is a stated, unaudited figure: the article gives neither its source nor its scope, and it is not an annual run rate.
Reports of a merger between GoodShort and DramaBox started on 9 October 2026, from unnamed sources. On 13 October, Jiemian found no official announcement, and Dianzhong China said that DramaBox and Dianzhong China were two independent companies. Chen Ruiqing, chairman of Dianzhong Technology, then described the merger in interviews: Hu Zexin would be chief executive and Chen Ruiqing chairman of the combined company (The Paper, from GrowData). On 31 October, Shanghai Securities News quoted him as saying the first aim was to stop the two apps bidding against each other for the same advertising.
On 10 November 2026, no company statement, filing or closing date had been found, nor the legal form of the deal. The merger is reported by the financial press and confirmed in interviews by the chairman of Dianzhong; no company statement was found.
| Measure | Value | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Play installs | 50M+ | November 2026 | Google Play |
| Google Play reviews | 4.58M | November 2026 | Google Play |
| US App Store rating | 4.9 (539,167 ratings) | November 2026 | App Store |
| Rank on downloads, worldwide | 10th | Q1 2026 | Sensor Tower, via Jiemian |
| Top countries by downloads | Indonesia, Brazil, United States | Q1 2026 | Sensor Tower, via Jiemian |
| Downloads, change on the month | −14.92% | August 2026 | Insightrackr |
Sensor Tower lists Indonesia, Brazil and the United States for downloads, and the United States, Japan and Brazil for revenue. In Latin America, Jiemian reports from Dataxis data that GoodShort ranks first on market share, ahead of DramaBox.
Singapore New Reading Technology Pte. Ltd. publishes the app. According to the Chinese press, which cites company registers, it is held through a Cayman Islands company and belongs to the group of Beijing New Reading Era, whose largest shareholder is Hu Zexin, presented by the press as GoodShort's founder.
On the US App Store, the Weekly VIP costs $5.99, $9.99 or $19.99, and coins sell from 500 for $4.99 to 2,500 for $24.99 (prices checked on 10 November 2026).
No figure published by the company was found. Sensor Tower, as reported by Jiemian, ranked GoodShort 5th worldwide on in-app revenue in the first quarter of 2026, and Insightrackr 6th on revenue in August 2026.
The chairman of Dianzhong Technology has described the merger in interviews since October 2026, with Hu Zexin as chief executive. No company statement or filing had been found on 10 November 2026.
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