Netflix Goes Short Form, World Cup Goes Big Time

1. Netflix Goes Short Form

So it was just two weeks ago that we were looking at what people were watching on YouTube when they watched it on TV and noting that Netflix, which few would argue is not TV, was already rolling out short-form vertical video in the form of previews and that it was likely also preparing to introduce more vertical short-form content on their mobile app.

Turns out we were half-right. 

They will indeed be launching short-form video from the likes of Architectural Digest, Buzzfeed and Vanity Fair. (So no Creators). Meaning this will be old school horizontal rather than vertical.

At least for now.

Why It Matters

Always one to have its fingers on the pulse of things, Netflix knows that short form is the new black. (See what I did there.) 

By leaning on very high production value content from major publishers—the sort of programming that always seems to wind up on airline onboard entertainment systems—they are not competing directly with YouTube for creators.

Instead, they’re checking the “I don’t have time to watch a whole half hour” box and acclimating people to shorter form content. 

So that when Netflix inevitably expands its offering to include things like creator content and vertical formats, people will still think of it as TV and, if Netflix sticks to higher production value creator content, also think of it as more premium—a boon for their ad sales team.

As we established in the aforementioned article about YouTube and TV, all of media is moving to a place where it’s no longer just a single platform. So that while YouTube on mobile is generally swipeable short form vertical video, YouTube on TV has lots of co-viewed TV-like content. 

A real mix.

Netflix may be the first one to also head in that direction but they will not be the last.

Smart media companies get that consumers move across multiple video platforms these days and want to be able to access everything everywhere. Meaning they need to be everywhere and to acknowledge that in the time of Feudal Media part of the reason for being everywhere is that people often do not leave their bubbles and so the content needs to come to them.

Short form on streaming TV apps is not a bad thing and provides creators with yet another income stream while giving viewers more of a sense that media company apps are one-stop shops.

What You Need To Do About It

If you are one of the big media companies and you are not already thinking about short form and vertical, time to get on the stick. This is the future, your competitors are all on it and if you ignore it, you’re screwed.

If you are skeptical about how much premium vertical video is out there, let me tell you about Roseberry. I was up at their offices in Tel Aviv last week and got a tour of what they’ve been up to. Their Red Snapper product allows you to take your horizontal video and turn it into vertical. They are already working with companies like Banijay and All3Media. Meaning that there is a whole lot of library TV content that is coming as vertical video and will be available to you soon. Because why not give viewers something unique to watch on their mobile app.

If you are an app developer and you want to expand, figuring out how to build a really good app for a media company is a solid bet. Focus on the UX and how the app can handle both vertical and horizontal formats.

The media companies are all likely struggling to figure this out, and if you do a good job of it, it can be a huge win.

Go for it.

2. World Cup Goes Big Time

Americans may never obsess about soccer the way the rest of the world does, but this year’s World Cup has been drawing record audiences.

The USA-Belgium match got 42 million viewers if you throw in the 12 million who watched in Spanish on Telemundo and Peacock.

That is about one-third the number that watched the Super Bowl, but twice the number that tuned into the NBA playoffs.

Which is not nothing.

It is, in fact, over two and a half times the audience for the USA- Netherlands match in Qatar in 2022.

Which, even if you factor in that the World Cup is being played in the US this year, is pretty impressive.

Why It Matters

For the past decade or so the world has been wondering when soccer will go big time in the US. 

Or at least that part of the world that tracks the television industry.

The theory has been that at some point all those kids who grew up playing youth soccer are going to start tuning in and joining their peers globally.

So it’s noteworthy that the World Cup in general and the game featuring the US team in particular made such a big splash this year. 

The fact that we are hosting it obviously played a factor. If nothing else, there’s the time zone thing.

There have also been so many stories about the fans (the Norwegian rowers) and their positive reactions to suburban America, the air conditioning in particular.

But mostly it is another reminder that sports are pretty much the only way to get large groups of people in the same place at the same time and so advertisers—big national advertisers in particular—are going to happily pay big bucks to reach them.

To the tune, the Wall Street Journal is reporting, of $1MM.

It’s why there are reports that the next round of World Cup rights will go for even more money—a cool billion seems to be the base price—and potential bidders are said to include Netflix, Disney, YouTube, Amazon and Apple, as well as Fox and NBCU. This is all speculation of course, but I’d be surprised if all of those companies are not already thinking about it. 

FIFA has gone out of its way to make the game more advertiser friendly (water breaks) and the timing works as baseball is the only major US sport that’s happening now and we’re still pretty far from the playoffs, so fans can focus.

Meaning that one billion may be a lowball figure, especially if the deep pocketed streamers get involved.

What You Need To Do About It

If you are Fox, Peacock and Telemundo, well done. You saw the value in these games, paid for them in advance and you are now reaping the rewards.

If you are FIFA, don’t mind the snark about water breaks. Americans are used to lots of ads in sports. It lets us get snacks from the kitchen and check our phones without missing anything. Keep it up.

If you are thinking of bidding for the 2030 World Cup, think of how much more fragmentation the next four years will bring and how much advertisers will pay to reach mass audiences. Especially mass audiences that are likely to be even more mass. And include hard-to-reach younger viewers. 

There are caveats: the games will be in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, a five-to-eight hour time difference from the US.

And they may not have the same appeal if they’re not being played here.

But I’m thinking they will, that American audiences are looking for something that feels big and international and provides the elusive common cultural touchpoint. 

Meaning they will be even bigger in 2030.

So open up those pocketbooks and search the couches for loose change. 

It will be worth it.