Disney+ will soon be home not just to the Disney, Hulu, and ESPN content libraries—vertical video is being added too. Here are the details from Disney’s announcement.
Vertical video in Disney+ app will debut in the U.S. this year
The success of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts has proven that vertical video is here to stay.
But aside from some experimentation by Netflix, TV streaming services have so far done little to embrace the vertical format. Disney+ plans to change that.
The streamer just announced that vertical video is coming to the Disney+ app this year in the U.S. following a successful rollout in the ESPN app.
Disney’s official announcement is pretty vague, saying only: “The experience will evolve as it expands across news and entertainment and delivers a more personalized, dynamic experience that reinforces Disney+ as a must-visit daily destination.”
Fortunately, Deadline has more details straight from Disney’s team:
Erin Teague, EVP of Product Management for Disney Entertainment and ESPN, said “everything’s on the table” in terms of how vertical video is delivered on Disney+. It could be original short-form programming, repurposed social clips, refashioned scenes from longer-form episodic or feature titles or a combination. “We’re obviously thinking about integrating vertical video in ways that are native to core user behaviors,” Teague said. “So, it won’t be a kind of a disjointed, random experience.”
Starting with ESPN vertical video enabled the company to learn about user response. “Vertical videos are really great as daily habits. snackable, short, bite sized experiences,” Teague said. She emphasized that Disney is not viewing them as teasers for longer-form programming, but as more of an overall enhancement to the service.
The popularity of vertical video on social platforms makes this move somewhat an inevitability.
Streaming services want daily user engagement, just like social platforms get. So it makes sense in that regard.
The recent Disney-OpenAI licensing deal for Sora was also a strong hint that vertical video was on the way, but it sounds like Disney’s vision for the new format is much broader than AI-generated content.
What do you think of TV streaming apps adding vertical video? Let us know in the comments.
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