Netflix, Disney, Fox and NBCUniversal embed vertical video in their apps and commission originals as discovery, distribution and monetization shift to the small screen
Vertical video is no longer an outside threat to streaming. As Netflix, Disney, Fox Entertainment and NBCUniversal pull short-form and microdramas inside their own apps, the format has moved to the center of streaming strategy. Two forces drive the shift. The first is the migration of viewing time: younger audiences now spend their days inside vertical feeds such as TikTok, YouTube and Reels, and the starting point of video consumption has moved from the home-screen recommendation to the infinite scroll.
Jung Han
The second is a discovery problem. In an era of content abundance, connecting subscribers to the next title has become nearly as hard as making it, and the short vertical clip has emerged as that connective tissue. Layer on the unit economics of microdramas — dozens of one-to-two-minute episodes stacked with payment and ad hooks — and short-form is expanding from a marketing tool into a standalone revenue format.
Why Now, Why Vertical
The first structural driver is the migration of viewing time. Audiences raised on mobile rarely decide what to watch and then turn it on; they swipe a feed and stop on whatever catches them. As the entry point shifts from the program grid or home-screen rail to the endless scroll, the vertical feed has claimed the first touchpoint of the video business.
The second driver is the discovery problem. The deeper a catalog runs, the more “what to surface” decides watch time and churn. Short vertical clips fill that gap as a discovery surface. Disney’s decision to wire Watchlist saves and instant playback into its Verts hub is a bid to collapse the distance from discovery to viewing into a single tap.
The third driver is unit economics. Microdramas stack 50 to more than 100 one-to-two-minute episodes, using cliffhangers to pull the next installment. Built up by dedicated apps on per-episode payments and advertising, the format turns over quickly against its production cost and slices sessions finely enough to multiply ad units — reason enough for streamers to treat short-form as a revenue line rather than a teaser.
From Competitor to Format
Streamers once saw short-form only as a rival for attention; now they are entering the format themselves. In an Axios interview, Activate CEO Michael Wolf argued that social platforms should be counted as streaming services in their own right.
“It’s short-form, but it doesn’t make a difference. People are watching them.” — Michael Wolf, Activate CEO (Axios)
Measurement is moving the same way. Comscore commercial EVP Tara Gotch said looking only at linear or streaming data obscures real growth: a flagship show can decline on traditional TV while growing through digital distribution at the same time. Once deduplicated reach across platforms is counted, she said,
“you may start to get a totally different story.” — Tara Gotch, Comscore EVP (Axios)
Vertical Inside the App: Disney’s ‘Verts’
Streamers are building vertical experiences directly inside their apps. According to Disney+’s Explore article, Disney took Verts — which launched in the ESPN app last year — and expanded it to Disney+ this year. It is a try-before-you-stream feature: viewers swipe through short vertical clips of memorable scenes to decide what to watch next. Built for phones, it sits behind a “Verts” icon in the app’s navigation bar, designed for the few spare minutes on a commute or before bed.
The design point is that it moves straight to action rather than stopping at a teaser. If a clip lands, viewers can play the full movie or episode, save the title to their Watchlist for later, or share it. Bundle subscribers also see Hulu on Disney+ titles. New and popular releases such as Zootopia 2, Daredevil: Born Again and Percy Jackson and the Olympians cycle through as clips. The intent is to keep discovery inside Disney’s own app rather than ceding it to outside social platforms.
Netflix is moving in the same direction. It added a “Clips” feed to its mobile app, describing it as a personalized highlight reel that helps users decide what to watch or play next without endless scrolling (per Variety). Infrastructure is following: Amazon Web Services introduced tools that convert live and on-demand video into vertical formats, with Fox Sports and NBCUniversal as partners — opening a path to repackage existing assets vertically at the distribution layer rather than in production.
Commissioning Vertical Originals
Beyond slicing existing libraries, original short-form commissioning aimed at mobile viewing is now underway. According to Axios, TelevisaUnivision’s ViX MicrOs has surpassed one billion cumulative views since launching last year. Ad sales chief John Kozack said its top title, “El Regreso de la Heredera Fugitiva,” drew more than 160 million views, with viewership up 48% quarter over quarter — proven demand pulling larger players into the format.
At the center sits the microdrama: a serialized form that completes a full story across dozens of one-to-two-minute vertical episodes (typically 50 to 100-plus), built up by dedicated apps like ReelShort. Per Peacock’s blog, NBCUniversal is bringing the format in along two tracks this summer. First come unscripted Bravo originals, “Campus Confidential: Miami” and “Salon Confessionals with Madison LeCroy.” Peacock framed them in a press release as
“the first official originals in this fast-growing format.” — Peacock press release
A scripted slate from ReelShort arrives alongside, spanning melodrama, romance, fantasy and young adult: “Do Not Disturb: Lady Boss in Disguise,” an 81-episode romance about a hotel heiress posing as a housekeeper; “Fated to My Forbidden Alpha,” a 60-episode werewolf fantasy; and “Straight A Pregnancy,” a 65-episode YA drama. Viewers pick titles from a dedicated rail, holding the phone vertically, inside the Peacock app. Microdrama actress Savannah Coffee described the format’s pull in an NBC “TODAY” interview, saying that because it works so much like social media,
“we’re almost a lot more intimate with fans.” — Savannah Coffee, NBC ‘TODAY’
Fox’s Bet: The Dhar Mann–Holywater Ecosystem
No one is betting harder on the format than Fox Entertainment. Per Variety (Jan. 26, Todd Spangler), Fox signed a multiyear deal with Dhar Mann Studios — founded by the mega-popular YouTube creator Dhar Mann — for 40 “narrative-driven” vertical series. The titles are made for Holywater, the microdrama platform Fox took an equity stake in last year; they debut exclusively on Holywater’s My Drama app before Fox Entertainment Global manages worldwide distribution.
Dhar Mann Studios, founded in 2018, has built more than 163 million followers and some 20 billion cumulative views across platforms including YouTube, and operates a 125,000-square-foot, three-stage facility in Burbank, California. Mann retains ownership and creative independence under the deal. Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade called him
“one of the most powerful and consequential voices in entertainment today.” — Rob Wade, Fox Entertainment CEO (Variety)
The bet runs past a single deal. Fox Entertainment Studios is separately in production on 200 original microdramas and vertical series for Holywater and is courting other Hollywood studios, talent and creators. Ukraine-based Holywater recently closed its largest financing round, banking $22 million. Co-CEOs Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov framed the partnership as a first step in a broader plan
“to attract global creators and top-tier talent to vertical storytelling at scale.” — Bogdan Nesvit & Anatolii Kasianov, Holywater co-CEOs (Variety)
It is a format pioneered by standalone apps now being absorbed by legacy media through capital, intellectual property and global distribution — a vertical-integration play reappearing in vertical video.
The Vertical Bet at a Glance
Sources: Axios, Variety, Peacock, Disney+
Two-Way Convergence: Platforms Move Toward TV
The convergence runs both ways. Per Axios, social platforms are also reaching into traditional entertainment formats and devices. YouTube acquired global rights to the Oscars; TikTok and Snapchat have hosted their own creator award shows; and Instagram launched a TV app for Reels.
Talent and titles are crossing over too. Hoorae Media, founded by actress Issa Rae, is partnering with TikTok on exclusive micro-series; Dhar Mann is working with Fox on microdramas; and Netflix is distributing video podcasts such as “The Breakfast Club” and “My Favorite Murder” through a tie-up with iHeartMedia. Premium and creator camps are each absorbing the other’s grammar.
The Debate: Cannibalization or Funnel
The core question is whether vertical cannibalizes premium viewing or funnels into it. The signals so far point to the funnel. A study from the trade group Cinema United and TikTok found box-office performance rising alongside in-app engagement (per Axios), and Disney’s decision to route Verts clips straight into Watchlist saves and playback rests on the same premise.
Variables remain. If attention captured in the feed does not convert into full-length viewing or payment, vertical risks becoming pure time-occupation. There is also the brand question of how a premium streamer manages its identity when it sits on the same screen as a werewolf-romance microdrama. And the definition of “a view” wobbles: a two-minute microdrama view and a 50-minute episode cannot be counted in the same unit, which means deduplicated reach itself demands a new measurement standard.
Outlook and the Korea Angle
As TV comes to look more like TikTok and vice versa, the line dividing premium from creator content is blurring. The new yardstick of competitiveness is less about format, length or screen orientation than about where content is discovered and how far it reaches. Discovery now runs on two tracks: internalized inside a streamer’s own app, as with Disney’s Verts, and outsourced to TikTok and Reels as external discovery engines.
There are real implications for Korean players. The microdrama — a story told in one-to-two-minute vertical installments — maps neatly onto Korea’s strength in serialized, webtoon- and web-novel-driven narrative, which gives the country a structural advantage as an IP supplier. The contest turns on three layers: first, the capability and cost structure to produce vertical originals in-house; second, wiring discovery paths inside domestic OTT and FAST services to carry subscribers into full-length viewing and advertising; and third, the choice of whether Korea remains a supplier or owns the distribution layer that carries the format globally, as Holywater does.
When content, technology and distribution move separately, the gains of the vertical shift flow to whoever owns the platform. Korean media can turn the migration toward the small screen into an opportunity only by designing the discovery surface and a global distribution window alongside production strength.
Sources
· Axios, “Streamers go vertical with short-form video” (Kerry Flynn)
· Axios, “Hollywood wants to be TikTok. TikTok wants to be TV” (Kerry Flynn, Apr. 18, 2026)
· Disney+ Explore, “Verts On Disney+: A New Way To Discover What To Watch Next” (Apr. 1, 2026)
· Peacock, “Microdramas Are Coming to Peacock This Summer” (peacocktv.com/blog)
· Variety, “Fox Entertainment Inks Deal With Dhar Mann Studios…” (Todd Spangler, Jan. 26, 2026)
· NBC ‘TODAY’ (Savannah Coffee interview, Feb. 2026)