Tube Trends: How 2-To-5 Minute Videos Are Making A Comeback

Jul 9

Short-form video is still the dominant force on social video platforms like YouTube. But below the surface, there are shifts happening that show other video durations beyond the shortest (less than two minutes) and longest (20 minutes or more) are making a comeback.

Specifically, we’re talking about 2-to-5 minute videos, specifically from media companies in the U.S.

Tubular Labs data sheds additional light on the 12-month trends as U.S. media is finding better footing in that 2-to-5 minute range.

Going back to July 2025, videos in that duration range accounted for just 15.37% of U.S. media creators’ YouTube views, but nearly 26% (25.95%) of their uploads.

In the time since, not only do those 2-to-5 minute videos account for a larger share of views (especially since February 2026); but they also account for a smaller number of uploads. So these media creators are now getting a larger bang for their respective buck on those 2-to-5 minute videos.

The chart above, using Tubular data, shows the shift over time. During Q3 and into Q4 of last year, videos running 2-to-5 minutes long were accounting for less than 15.5% of U.S. media companies’ YouTube views. Yet, they also made up over a quarter of uploads.

That relationship was inefficient. What’s followed has been less so as the line for upload percentage around 2-to-5 minute videos has steadily declined (to 23.43% in June 2026). Meanwhile, the share of views for that duration has been consistently above 15.5%, with a high of 18.18% in February 2026.

What’s created the significant increase?

Fewer Views For Shorts

Shorts haven’t disappeared for U.S. media creators. But the number of views derived from them have declined.

From January to February 2026, the number of views coming from U.S. media videos on YouTube running less than dropped by nearly 22% month-over-month — despite a similar number of uploads from those same creators (165K uploads versus 169K).

In the months since, the number of uploads have actually increased. While the views have stayed relatively similar at that 20-22% decline compared to January 2026.

Traditional TV Leaning In

Traditional TV creators are the ones leading the charge when it comes to 2-to-5 minute uploads, in part since the nature of TV news segments can lend to this duration with little to no editing.

In Q2 2026, Fox News, MS Now, Saturday Night Live and CNN were all among the most-seen U.S. media creators when isolating 2-to-5 minute videos.

Fox News Clips is a YouTube account that exists (and is run by Fox News) almost exclusively to share uploads of this length. In Q2 alone, the channel uploaded 2,082 videos, and 88.6% of those were in the 2-to-5 minute range.

For these news media creators, a “clip” isn’t a Short. It’s a segment pulled directly from TV and used as a promotional tool to watch the full episode. Worst-case, audiences don’t. But the 2-to-5 minute video clip presents a complete story on its own and drives interest and conversation.

Sports And Movies Also Help

As mentioned in this space last week, sports and movie trailer content are on the rise this year for U.S. media companies. And both happen to trend toward this video duration as well.

Most movie trailers are going to be around two minutes long. Extended game highlights and TV segments about a specific game will fall along a similar duration.

And with so many major sporting events already this year (Olympics, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, World Cup), it’s understandable that media creators are leaning in with YouTube content to meet those demands.

The February jump for 2-to-5 minute videos would tend to align with that initial Olympics surge. It’ll be interesting to see if the momentum observed here, then, can continue into Q3 once the dust settles on the World Cup.