What you need to know
- Disney reportedly announced during CES 2026 that it plans to introduce short-form, vertical videos to its service.
- A Disney exec stated that these videos shouldn't feel "disjointed" and would likely contain "original short-form programming" among other things.
- The latest happenings surrounding Disney Plus that impacted viewers were its price hikes, which went into effect on October 21.
During CES 2026, Disney Plus announced its plans to use vertical videos to turn itself into a daily "must-visit" destination.
A report by Deadline highlights the announcement this week in which Disney Plus stated it is interested in bringing vertical videos to its service. An interview with Disney Entertainment and ESPN's EVP of product management, Erin Teague, said, "everything’s on the table" regarding these vertical videos. The original announcement said that these videos would be used to "explore" its uses across "categories, and content types, for a personalized and dynamic feed."
Disney might even look to throw in news and other entertainment tidbits throughout the day.
On a technical level, Teague said Disney is still in its early stages, as it looks to implement vertical videos in a way that doesn't feel "disjointed." However, for the user, Deadline highlights that these vertical videos could contain original short-form programming, repurposed social clips, refashioned scenes from longer-form episodic or feature titles," and more.
These videos would try and have their own backbone and not just be a "teaser" for Disney Plus' "long-form" content, such as movies and shows.
Getting in on the short-form
According to the report, one of the catalysts behind Disney's interest in vertical videos is its Gen Z and Gen Alpha users. Teague adds that, "This is what Gen Z and Gen Alpha are expecting. They are not necessarily thinking about sitting down, watching a long-form, two-and-a-half hour piece of content on their phones." More than that, Teague's response gives the impression that Disney Plus is caught in this whirlwind of engagement from other platforms with short-form, vertical videos.
You can think YouTube Shorts, Reels on Instagram, and even "Verts" on ESPN, which the publication makes note of. We shouldn't expect these vertical videos on Disney Plus anytime soon, as the company hashes out the finer details.
Aside from bringing in Hulu content more prominently on Disney Plus, vertical videos are probably the largest content shift users can expect on the service. Besides that, the card we were dealt back in September was a price hike (again) for its standalone and bundled plans. October 21 is when the price hikes went live for its basic with ads plan and its Premium variant. Prices hopped up by $2 to $3.
Even the Disney Plus, Hulu, and HBO Max bundles rose from $16.99 to $19.99 per month.
