Streaming’s Short-Video Bet Is Still Unproven

Streaming platforms are making a familiar bet: if subscribers already scroll short videos elsewhere, give them a similar feed inside the app. According to The Verge, Disney+, Paramount+, Netflix and HBO Max have introduced swipeable vertical-video experiences over the past year. The hope is that a clip helps someone choose a title, opens the app during a spare minute and makes the subscription feel more valuable. The evidence for that chain is still thin.

What the companies have launched

Disney+ launched Verts in March, letting mobile users swipe through scenes, save titles or jump into a movie or show. Paramount+ added a clips feed in April. HBO Max began testing Shorts with selected US iPhone users in July, with a direct path from a clip into a title. Netflix made Clips a centerpiece of its mobile redesign, and Disney announced a US pilot with TikTok to bring creator-made clips about its films and shows into Verts.

The strategic logic is straightforward. Streaming services already own large libraries that can be cut into promotional clips. A short feed may help discovery inside an app that can otherwise feel overwhelming. It may also give subscribers a reason to open the app between full-length viewing sessions.

What is actually known

Disney said about 43 percent of Disney+ mobile users had interacted with Verts by October. It also said Verts accounted for 65 percent of user-initiated short-form video starts in the ESPN app. But Disney did not say whether Verts leads to more movie or show viewing, or to longer subscriptions.

Paramount CEO David Ellison said Paramount+ engagement had risen more than 20 percent since Skydance acquired Paramount. He did not provide results for the clips feed. HBO Max’s parent did not give usage figures for either feed on its November call. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos grouped short-form video with other early experiments and said the core entertainment business still accounts for roughly 95 percent of spending and nearly all revenue.

The competitive backdrop is attention. The Verge reports that Nielsen data put YouTube at a record 15.8 percent of US TV viewing in August. eMarketer analyst Ross Benes says YouTube also leads in time spent watching video on phones, where it competes with TikTok and Instagram. The same firm estimates US adults spend a little over 90 minutes a day on mobile video and about two and a half hours on connected TVs, counting simultaneous viewing in both totals.

That matters because social platforms have something streaming feeds do not: millions of creators making new material and reactions every day. A clip inside a streaming app can pitch the full episode. On TikTok or YouTube, a creator’s reaction can be the reason someone opens the app at all, including between seasons.

The unresolved commercial question

There is also the ad problem. Benes says phone ads generally fetch less than TV ads, and a short clip has less room for ad breaks than a movie or episode. He is skeptical that the feeds will be a big success on their own and sees a more plausible role as something viewers scroll through on a phone while the TV is on.

Disney has shown that people will use a clips feed once it is inside a streaming app. The next question is whether the feed becomes a reason to open the app in the first place, and another reason to keep paying. The supplied material does not establish that clip feeds cause more viewing, lower cancellations or higher revenue. Until the companies disclose those outcomes, the short-video push is best understood as a strategic experiment rather than a proven fix.

Original reporting by The Verge. This article is an independent editorial rewrite based solely on the supplied material.