Disney is finally admitting what everyone else already knows. Streaming can no longer survive on people sitting down for long sessions every night.
At CES in Las Vegas this week, Disney announced that Disney+ will add vertical videos later this year. The move is aimed at boosting daily engagement, an area where Disney+ has lagged behind digital-first platforms. The announcement came during Disney’s Tech + Data Showcase and was tied closely to advertising ambitions, not storytelling breakthroughs.
The company has already tested this format inside the ESPN app, where vertical sports clips launched last August. According to Disney executives, those videos performed well as quick, habitual content. Now the same thinking is being applied to Disney+, with plans for a personalized feed that could include original short videos, repurposed social clips, or scenes pulled from existing shows and movies.
Disney executives were clear that this is not about teasing long-form content. The goal is to make Disney+ something people open every day, not just when a new episode drops. That alone explains why this step matters. Streaming platforms are under pressure to behave more like apps and less like libraries.
The subtext is impossible to ignore. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube trained younger audiences to consume video in short, vertical bursts. Disney is not leading that change. It is responding to it, years later, and carefully.
Advertising is the real driver here. Disney also unveiled new tools aimed at helping brands measure impact and create TV-ready ads faster. Live sports, especially on ESPN, remain the crown jewel, with Disney claiming a third of all live sports viewing in 2025.
Vertical video will not magically fix engagement issues. But it signals that Disney understands one uncomfortable truth. The future of streaming is not just about what people watch, but how often they open the app to begin with.