Disney is bringing a new vertical-video feature called “Verts” to Disney+ in the United States. They claim it’s part of an effort to make the streaming platform more dynamic and personalized for viewers. The initiative builds on a similar feature previously launched within the ESPN app, but is it Disney’s attempt to compete with YouTube and TikTok?
The company says the new experience will allow fans to browse vertical, swipeable video content directly inside the Disney+ app. This format is copying the mobile-first viewing formats that have become popular across social media platforms. While Disney claims it’s about storytelling and keeping franchises front and center, it’s likely about YouTube beating them in streaming. But unlike YouTube or TikTok, Disney will run Disney-owned shorts to try to drive up watch time and engagement.
They are using the format but cutting out the creator element that makes this content popular to begin with–at least in the beginning.
The Mobile-First Approach
The rollout of Verts follows the feature’s earlier introduction within the ESPN app, where it functions as a dedicated tab offering a personalized stream of short videos. The format delivers highlights, analysis, news clips, and other curated content through a feed that users can navigate vertically on mobile devices. (So TikTok)
On Disney+, the experience will expand beyond sports to include news, entertainment, and other forms of short-form storytelling, offering viewers a quick way to discover new content while scrolling through the app. The company expects the feature to evolve over time as it integrates with Disney+’s broader personalization and recommendation tools.
For all the effort to make this sound like “user-created content,” that isn’t what is happening, at least at launch.
It’s all Disney’s own stuff done in short-form style to push their IP, networks, etc. So, if they can’t beat creator-content, they will try to use the same format to push more of the same.
“With a tap of the new Verts icon in the navigation bar on mobile, users enter a vertical video feed and can swipe through a stream of scenes and moments from movies and shows on Disney+, and seamlessly add to their Watchlist or jump directly into playback. With the latest streaming hits and an incredible catalog spanning more than 100 years of storytelling, we’re making it easier for fans to discover what to watch next. Verts offers a fun, fast way to explore that catalog right from the moment users open the app.”
Disney claims creator-content is coming, but is it really?
“At launch, this includes driving discoverability across Disney’s entertainment catalog, with opportunities in the future to add content from creators that reflect our fandoms, plus other storytelling formats, content types, and personalized experiences.”
For all the talk indicating this is about customers being able to create content, that is not what is happening.
Maybe down the road, but not yet.
Disney is notoriously so afraid of lawsuits, I find it hard to believe that they will allow users the same freedom to create as YouTube or TikTok, as evidenced by their Maker Studios debacle.
Disney’s attempt at YouTube dominance with Maker Studios
Once upon a time, Disney bought a YouTube MCN (multi-channel network) that they thought would give them leverage over the platform. In this network were some larger YouTubers, including PewDiePie and one of our channels at the time. (Yes, we were actually part of this situation.)
Disney thought they could leverage and control creators, but quickly learned that creators were there to make content for themselves and their audiences and not the Walt Disney Company. Around that time, PewDiePie got in trouble for alleged anti-Semitism, and Disney dropped him from Maker Studios.
Immediately, Disney took this top MCN and messed with it via dropping creators, asserting rules and control, and rebranding until they killed it and had to shut it down two years later.
Disney says they want to allow creator-made content like YouTube or TikTok, but they are so worried about their brands, I don’t see this happening unless it’s so controlled that it isn’t worth it.
I could be wrong, but the fact that they are promoting “Verts” as creator-content at all speaks volumes. At launch, they are shorts done in a popular format, fully controlled by the company, meant to be commercials for their IP.
This is spelled out clearly in the press release,
“Verts offers a fun, fast way to explore that catalog right from the moment users open the app. It brings the magic of Disney’s storytelling into a format that feels modern, engaging, and tailor-made for how fans already enjoy discovering video on mobile devices.”
This is about trying to leverage short-form content to beat TikTok and YouTube without understanding why that content is popular. It isn’t simply because they are shorts or they are in vertical scroll. It’s mostly due to the creators themselves.
Sounds like this is going to be Maker Studios 2.0, and Disney still hasn’t learned anything.
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