Streamers Built Their TikTok Feeds. The Numbers Still Aren't There

YouTube captured a record 15.8 percent of all viewing through US TV sets in August, according to Nielsen — and on Skydance's earnings call Monday, CEO David Ellison named the gap plainly: add up every Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery broadcast, cable, and streaming property, and the combined portfolio still trails YouTube in US television watch time.

Months before that call, Ellison had already told staff what he thought would close it. A feed of short vertical videos, he said at Skydance's first employee town hall after the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition closed in October, was "critical to our future." On Monday he reported that Paramount Plus engagement had risen more than 20 percent since Skydance acquired Paramount last year. He didn't mention how the clips feed performed. That omission is the pattern.

What have the streamers actually shipped?

Over the past year, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, Netflix, and HBO Max have all added swipeable short-video feeds to their mobile apps. The theory is simple: a great scene helps a subscriber pick a show, and a steady stream of clips gets them to open the app when they have a minute. Both should make the subscription feel worth paying for. The streamers have shared almost nothing on whether that holds.

The one hard usage figure comes from Disney. About 43 percent of Disney Plus mobile users had interacted with Verts by October, the company said. The feed launched in March and lets viewers swipe through scenes, save titles, or jump into a full movie. Disney didn't say whether Verts drives more viewing or longer subscriptions. Inside ESPN, Verts accounted for 65 percent of user-initiated short-form video starts — a highlight gives fans something to watch without a full game.

Paramount added its clips feed in April and was exploring user-generated video for a possible free tier by September. Ellison told the May earnings call that viewers move from clips into news, sports, and entertainment — without saying how often. HBO Max began testing Shorts with select US iPhone users in July. Skydance gave no usage figures for either feed on its November call, partly because the quarter ended six days before the Warner Bros. Discovery deal closed.

Is short-form video paying off?

At Netflix, Jefferies estimates average monthly viewing fell from 66 hours per member in the first half of 2023 to 49 in the first half of 2026. Co-CEO Greg Peters pointed to lower cancellation rates in the US and globally as evidence engagement stayed healthy. His counterpart Ted Sarandos went further on the same October call, downplaying short-form video six months after Netflix made Clips a centerpiece of its mobile redesign. He grouped it with early experiments and said the core entertainment business still accounts for roughly 95 percent of spending and nearly all revenue. Netflix plans themed Clips feeds in 2027. It hasn't said whether Clips gets people to watch more.

The economics are unkind. Ross Benes, a senior analyst at eMarketer, notes that phone ads generally fetch less than TV ads, and a short clip leaves less room for ad breaks than a movie or an episode. "I just don't see it being like a big success for them," he says. He thinks the feeds' plausible role is something to scroll while the TV plays. eMarketer estimates US adults spend a little over 90 minutes a day on mobile video and about two and a half hours on connected TVs — counting simultaneous viewing in both totals.

The structural problem is supply. Streamers clip their own catalogs; TikTok and YouTube have millions of creators reacting to that content daily. A scene in a streaming app pitches the full episode. A creator's reaction to that same episode can be the reason you open the app — even between seasons.

Disney is now confronting that directly. In August it announced a US pilot with TikTok to bring opt-in creator clips about its titles into Verts, appearing on both apps. CEO Josh D'Amaro said the deal could make Disney Plus a "stickier app" that "benefits our whole ecosystem." An internal roadmap reviewed by Business Intelligence targets early 2027 for creator content, plus sports, news clips, and microdramas.

Disney has proven people will use a clips feed inside a streaming app. Nobody has yet proven the feed becomes a reason to open the app, or a reason to keep paying — and until a streamer publishes retention numbers tied to these feeds, that claim stays untested.