The traditional horizontal video format, which has defined cinema and television broadcasting for over a century, faces its greatest challenge yet in 2026 in the form of vertical image orientation, which was originally considered a technological limitation of mobile phones. However, this shift is not merely an aesthetic whim, but a perfectly logical response to content consumption among generations who, with a certain degree of hyperbole, grew up with a mobile phone from their cot or have had one with them at least from a very young age.
Bringing this habit into the living room via connected TVs, known by the acronym CTV (and not just those), represents a strategic attempt to unify the user experience across devices, making television the fastest-growing segment for consuming content such as YouTube Shorts. Conversely, a recent experiment with giant tiles on the service’s main screen has now ended.
The psychological mechanism of the ‘endless feed’ is now being implemented into television operating systems, where its purpose is to eliminate the problem of content selection, which often results in an overwhelmingly large choice on individual streaming services. YouTube, for example, offers immediate visual gratification in this regard through short, algorithm-generated thematic segments, such as a selection of interviews from individual creators.
What Netflix has come up with recently
Netflix is undergoing a transformation of its mobile app and, by extension, its overall approach to the user interface. The central feature is the introduction of a vertical ‘discovery feed’, which aims to change the way users search for new titles by utilising habits acquired on social media. This feature allows platform subscribers to seamlessly scroll through vertical previews, which are deliberately designed to convey the main message of a series or film within a few seconds.
The integration of the vertical format into the Netflix ecosystem does not stop at mobile devices; its influence is also reflected in the recently revamped user interface for TV screens, where the platform is experimenting with dynamic tiles and vertical previews that better align with content created for marketing campaigns on platforms such as TikTok. This approach allows Netflix to make more effective use of its extensive archive whilst promoting new releases that the service expects to be successful.
Disney and the Verts project
At the CES 2026 technology trade fair, Disney stunned industry experts by unveiling the ‘verts’ format, which integrates a TikTok-style vertical video feed directly into the Disney app, for the time being only in the United States. This move is the result of long-term testing within the ESPN app, where the vertical sports highlights format proved to be a successful tool for increasing engagement among younger viewers.
The ‘verts’ (the term for vertical videos) is designed to serve as a dynamic gateway to content, where users can browse through a personalised stream of short clips that include not only trailers but also exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, news and sports highlights, all optimised for instant consumption without the need to scroll horizontally. The aim is to transform Disney into a “must-visit daily destination” where users find fresh and relevant content every time they open the app.
Boosting YouTube Shorts across all platforms
Google TV is implementing one of the most significant changes to smart TV architecture by introducing a dedicated “Short videos for you” section directly on the home screen, thereby elevating YouTube Shorts to a system-level priority. This integration, again launched first in the US, allows vertical videos to play in a continuous stream without the need to manually launch the YouTube app, thereby shortening the path to content and bringing the TV experience closer to that of mobile scrolling.
The interface is designed to harness the power of Google Account personalisation, with the short video section placed in a dedicated ‘For You’ section, alongside traditional categories such as Films or individual streaming services. This clearly signals that Google regards short-form content as a fully-fledged pillar of modern entertainment. Alongside the integration of Shorts, Google TV is bringing Gemini AI to living rooms, transforming the television from a passive display into an active creative tool.
Will other players be tempted by “verts”?
Whilst Netflix, Disney and Google are openly championing vertical and short-form content, platforms such as HBO Max, Apple TV and SkyShowtime are (at least for now) opting for a different strategy, prioritising cinematic quality and the integrity of widescreen storytelling over the fragmentation inherent in the mobile video format. HBO Max, for example, continues to focus on a premium TV/video-on-demand format based on the iconic 1990s slogan “Your home cinema”.
Apple TV and SkyShowtime also maintain their original approach to content, with Apple banking on releasing original series and films to strengthen the loyalty of premium subscribers through quality rather than quantity, complemented by exclusive releases within Apple Music blocks. SkyShowtime continues its gradual expansion into European markets, whilst the modernisation of its interface is proceeding in a conservative spirit that respects the traditional viewing habits of European audiences.
However, it cannot be ruled out that other players will eventually succumb to the trend of the times, for example by using vertical previews to promote their premium titles without disrupting their original, full-screen format. Indeed, as we have informed our readers, this significant step has already taken place in the Apple TV environment. This year thus pits two visions against each other: the future of an endless vertical stream aimed at a younger audience, and a film industry that believes stories still deserve to be told on the big screen.
Source: mediaguru.cz