The studio announced Wednesday that it plans to introduce short-form, vertical video content to the Disney+ app in the US later this year.
“As it expands to news and entertainment, this experience will evolve and deliver a more personalized, dynamic experience that will solidify Disney+ as an everyday travel destination,” the House of Mouse said in a post summing up the announcements at the company’s Tech + Data Showcase at CES in Las Vegas.
The move follows Disney launching “Verts” shorts, game highlights and analysis clips on the ESPN app last year.
Disney says the initiative is about boosting daily engagement on the platform. While streaming services still care about subscriber growth, their profit growth now depends on advertising, requiring users to visit more often and stay longer. Short-form videos are one way to do this.
TikTok, which first launched in China in 2016 before expanding globally in 2017, has mastered this type of habit-forming, daily interaction. And it didn’t take long for rivals to copy this formula. Meta launched Instagram Reels in 2020 and YouTube launched Shorts in 2021.
Now, it looks like streamers are next.
Erin Teague, executive vice president of product management for Disney Entertainment and ESPN, said during remarks at CES that mobile is a major opportunity for Disney+.
“Over the next year, we’re introducing vertical video experiences on Disney+. Think all the short-form Disney content you want in one unified app,” Teague said. “Over time, we will evolve the experience as we explore applications for different formats, categories and content types, from sports, news and entertainment to dynamic feeds of your interest – which refresh in real time based on your previous visit.”
In an interview with Deadline, Teague said the initiative is also about meeting young audiences where they are.
“That’s what Gen Z and Gen Alpha are expecting. They’re not necessarily looking to sit down and watch two and a half hours of long content on their phone,” Teague told Deadline.
Disney isn’t the first streamer to experiment with vertical video. Netflix began testing a similar short-form video feed feature last year, which was largely used to highlight and promote its long-form content.
However, Teague told Deadline that Disney is treating its short-form video content not as a preview of longer shows or movies, but as an enhancement to the overall Disney+ experience.
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