Disney+ is preparing to embrace microcontent
After testing sports fans’ interest in short-form content, Disney wants to bring short bursts to a wider audience.
The company aims to bring so-called “microcontent” to Disney+ by 2026, it announced Wednesday at CES, joining a parade of traditional media providers working harder to woo younger consumers who have become more accustomed to swiping through Tik Toks, Reels and other watered-down attempts at entertainment.
Disney has made its first bet on short-attention-span theater with “verts,” or short video vignettes posted to its new ESPN streaming app that can include key game moments or bits of commentary or analysis from various sports personalities. Fans can exercise more control over a feed they can scroll or swipe, and the videos are tailored to users’ individual interests.
Disney indicated that it plans to expand the use of short-form video into both news and entertainment, betting that such features will make Disney+ a daily destination for users who want to receive updates on their favorite content areas. There have already been some intriguing experiments. In 2025, ABC News launched a daily short-form show for Disney+ called “What You Need to Know,” hosted each weekday by Rachel Scott or James Longman.
Others aspire to a similar commitment. Procter & Gamble, one of the country’s largest advertisers, this month is launching “The Golden Pear Affair,” a 50-episode “microsoap” that will initially be made available through social media and later through a custom mobile app. The idea, say backers of the new program, is to reach people who are used to swiping content on a mobile phone, rather than those who sit back and passively swoon in front of a more traditional screen. Spanish-language giant TelevisaUnivision has lured advertisers into a growing line of frothy “microdramas” that mimic many of the elements of the company’s popular telenovelas. The company recently teamed up with advertising agency Dentsu to create a custom Spanish-language microdrama for retailer JCPenney.
Disney also reached out to Madison Avenue on Wednesday, unveiling a “brand portal” that will allow clients to measure the impact of ad campaigns on Disney properties using data from Affinity Solutions, CINT, EDO, Innovid and VideoAmp. “We enable advertisers to act smarter and faster to achieve their goals, with data and measurement guiding their strategy,” said Dana McGraw, Disney’s senior vice president of data and measurement science, in a statement. The company also unveiled a new “impact metric” that it said would provide insights into goals such as consumer attention, reach, brand health, searches and actions consumers take after exposure to commercials.
