Disney+plans to roll out TikTok style short videos in US

Disney+ is planning to roll out a TikTok-style short-form video feed in the United States later this year, signalling a shift in how the streaming service wants audiences to interact with its platform.

The update was announced during Disney’s Tech + Data Showcase at CES 2026 and reflected the company’s broader effort to increase daily engagement and appeal to scrolling-first viewers.

The new feature aimed to introduce a dedicated feed of short videos that includes original clips, curated social-style content, and brief highlights pulled from Disney’s movies and television shows.

According to Disney, the experience is designed to feel intuitive for mobile users, allowing viewers to discover content through vertical scrolling rather than traditional browsing menus.

The executive vice president of product management for Disney Entertainment and ESPN Erin Teague said, the goal is to make discovery feel natural to how audiences already consume content on their phones.

Instead of deciding what to watch upfront, users can casually scroll through short clips that surface shows, franchises, and moments aligned with their interests.

Disney has previously tested similar functionality within its ESPN app. In 2025, ESPN introduced personalized short-form feeds focused on sports highlights and real-time updates. The apparent success of that experiment helped inform the expansion of short-form video into Disney’s main entertainment platform.

The move came as streaming services compete more directly with social media platforms for user attention. Younger audiences, in particular, tend to favor fast, snackable content before committing to full-length episodes or films. Short-form feeds lower the barrier to entry by emphasizing passive discovery over deliberate choice.

Disney+ followed a growing industry trend. Netflix introduced a vertical discovery feed last year featuring clips from its original programming. Disney aimed  to differentiate its approach through deeper personalization and a mix of entertainment highlights, behind-the-scenes moments, and franchise updates.

If successful, the feature could transform Disney+ from an app opened primarily for new releases into one users check daily, blurring the line between streaming platforms and social media-style content feeds.

Disney+ relied on technology developed by Disney Streaming, which was originally established as BAMTech in 2015 when it was spun off from MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM). Disney increased its ownership share of BAMTech to a controlling stake in 2017 and subsequently transferred ownership to Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International, as part of a corporate restructuring in anticipation of Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox, through which the Star brand was inherited and got retooled as a content platform within the service in some regions, with Latin America having its own standalone service, Star+, until June 26 and July 24, 2024. The Star brand was phased out on October 8 being replaced with Hulu outside the US except Japan due to the existing Hulu Japan.

With BAMTech helping to launch ESPN+ in early 2018, and Disney’s streaming distribution deal with Netflix ending in 2019, Disney took the opportunity to use technologies being developed for ESPN+ to establish a Disney-branded streaming service that would feature its content. Production of films and television shows for exclusive release on the platform began in late 2017.

Disney+ was launched on November 12, 2019, in the United States, Canada and the Netherlands, and expanded to Australia, New Zealand and Puerto Rico a week later. It became available in select European countries in March 2020 and in India in April through Star India’s Hotstar streaming service, which was rebranded as Disney+ Hotstar.

Additional European countries received Disney+ in September 2020, with the service expanding to Latin America in November 2020. It later expanded in Southeast Asian countries since 2021, followed by countries in Northern and Eastern Europe, Middle East and parts of Africa since May 2022.

Upon launch, it was met with positive reception of its content library, but was criticized for technical problems and missing content. Alterations made to films and television shows also attracted media attention. Ten million users had subscribed to Disney+ by the end of its first day of operation.

In the third quarter of 2024, the number of global Disney+ subscribers amounted to 153.8 million. This marked a growth of around seven million compared with the same quarter of the previous year.