Streaming has mostly been centered on the TV, but now the smartphone is beginning to change the game. Previously almost entirely a film- and full-length TV-episode business, services are now testing vertical video, short-form clips, and mobile-first discovery. It’s a straightforward objective: to grab some of the TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts time.
This may be the next step in the streaming wars. While the number of subscribers is still important, it is becoming increasingly important to compete for attention across traditional viewing sessions on major platforms. If a service is only useful when someone has an hour to spare, it’s a good bet that he or she is wasting a lot of little moments in the day.
Streaming Services Want the Scroll
The streaming homepage is the traditional one that requires users to make a choice. They pick a show, pick an episode and agree to watch it. Vertical feeds eliminate a lot of that friction.
Users can scroll through trailers, scenes, sports highlights, or original short-form content without navigating menus. These clips flow from one to the next.
It has already been seen on social media, and it is a template streaming companies already have in their behavioral repertoire. The trick is in how to transform it without making it seem like another endless social feed. But the lure is clear for streaming companies. A vertical interface could render the app useful even if someone doesn’t have time to watch an entire episode.
Five Minutes Is Becoming Valuable
Large chunks of leisure time have always been in demand by the entertainment industry. TV schedules were based upon half-hour and hour-long programs. Movies required an even greater investment of time. Smartphones changed that; now 5 spare minutes is commercially valuable.
A commuter waiting for a train can watch several short videos. Someone in the line can play a mobile game. A user may even log in to a casino from their mobile phone during a short free time instead of organizing a longer entertainment activity.
Now, streaming companies want to access those moments. That is why clips, vertical programming, and microdramas are gaining in popularity. Short-form content provides a platform with something to offer when they are not in the right mindset to watch a program.
Vertical Video Changes What Gets Produced
When platforms get the vertical feed thing right, they’re forced to make entertainment that is just for the vertical feed. Just cutting TV shots into portrait mode can only get you so far. The vertical entertainment has to be professional, with different framing, pacing and storytelling.
Microdramas illustrate what that might sound like. Episodes might be a minute or two long, but they are still part of a continuing story that keeps viewers watching. This is crucial as smartphones have become more than secondary screens.
An individual watching a short movie, playing a mobile game, or accessing a casino app on their mobile phone is consuming entertainment tailored to the device’s size and capabilities. Mobile may be the smaller TV, but streaming companies may have to accept that this isn’t always the case.
Discovery May Be the Real Prize
Vertical feeds are also a way to overcome one of the biggest challenges of streaming: discovery. Bigger libraries sound like a good idea, but they can lead to choice overload. Users can spend several minutes browsing without selecting anything.
When it comes to feeding, the decision isn’t as big. The platform can display a 30-second clip instead of asking someone to select a two-hour movie from thousands of titles. The complete program is just a tap away if the viewer reacts well.
For example, this makes streaming closer to other mobile entertainment industries. For instance, a casino on smartphone, mobile game stores, or social platforms already rely heavily on recommendations, since there’s more content for users to explore than they can possibly go through.
The same issue is increasingly becoming a problem for streaming services. The recommendation engine can thus be more significant than the traditional catalog page.
TikTok Has Changed Entertainment Expectations
TikTok’s impact extends beyond the short video format and into everyday life. It has been conditioning people to want entertainment to start right away. This is done through very little navigation, almost no commitment and constant adaptation of algorithms.
That’s not something that can be replicated on streaming platforms. High-quality films, series, and live programs remain extremely important to their businesses. However, they can take the discovery tools.
A vertical feed may be a way to expose a viewer to a program they wouldn’t have sought out on their own. It could also help retain a person in the app after they finish an episode, rather than their attention going elsewhere. That isn’t to say that short-form social media content should replace longer entertainment, but it is a stepping stone to it.
The Smartphone Is Becoming the Main Battleground
The next streaming winner may not necessarily be the one with the largest blockbuster franchises. It may also be a function of creating the best mobile experience in their orbit.
There is also a fast-paced movement of consumers across streaming, social media, gaming, and casino apps on a smartphone, often without realizing that these are different forms of entertainment.
They just choose what gets the next couple of minutes of their attention. The vertical feed is important for this reason. Streaming services are no longer just battling it out for the 8 pm TV viewing experience. They’re arguing over what someone opens while they wait for coffee at 8 am.
That said, the next streaming war will still be about movies and TV. But more and more, the war will be fought on a six-inch screen, held in a hand, and put up to your eyes.