Disney+ Short-Form Video Strategy: A TikTok-Like Move to Hook Younger Viewers
Disney is copying TikTok’s addictive scroll-and-watch formula for Disney+, but will it work? The streaming giant announced plans to launch short-form vertical video content on Disney+ in the U.S. in 2026, a move that signals a direct challenge to TikTok and Instagram Reels.
Erin Teague, EVP of Product Management, explained the shift: 'We’re obviously thinking about integrating vertical video in ways that are native to core user behaviors.'
The strategy includes a mix of original short-form videos, repurposed social clips, and reconfigured scenes from existing movies and TV shows.
This approach requires significant backend infrastructure to scale—particularly in encoding pipelines capable of converting legacy content into vertical formats, recommendation algorithms to prioritize bite-sized content, and search systems optimized for fragmented video clips.
Repurposing 10,000 hours of legacy content alone would demand automated cropping, aspect-ratio adjustments, and AI-driven scene segmentation to maintain visual coherence.
The Technical Hurdles of Vertical Video at Scale
Unlike TikTok’s live captioning or Instagram’s AI-based clip curation, Disney’s vertical strategy must balance brand consistency with algorithmic virality. Encoding pipelines must handle massive parallel processing to convert legacy content while preserving cinematic quality. Recommendation systems will need to adapt from long-form binge-watching to micro-engagement loops—similar to how Netflix’s vertical feed in 2024 struggled to retain users beyond 30-second clips.
Comparing Disney’s Strategy to TikTok and Instagram
ESPN’s 2025 personalized vertical feed offers a testbed for Disney’s broader ambitions. By 2026, the company must prove it can replicate TikTok’s algorithmic serendipity without diluting its family-friendly brand. The real test lies in whether AI can curate vertical content that feels both native to mobile-first audiences and distinct from the chaos of social media feeds.
