LOS ANGELES: Netflix says it plans to expand further into vertical-format videos on smartphones, rather than leave this space to rivals like TikTok and Instagram.
Co-chief executive Greg Peters said on Tuesday that the service has been testing a feed of portrait clips from its films and series for months, with excerpts from video podcasts potentially to be added as part of a wider refresh of the Netflix smartphone app this year.
The vertical feed is designed to help users discover shows they want to watch. Netflix says clips from its series are often shared in portrait format on TikTok, but the company would prefer this to happen on its own platform.
"We've actually been testing vertical video features for some time, about six months or so, and we've had a vertical video feed in the mobile experience that's been available for several months," Peters said. "That feed is filled with clips of Netflix shows and movies."
Peters said more vertical videos would be shown to users as part of a "broader upgrade" of the mobile experience later in 2026.
Meanwhile, Netflix is continuing a charm offensive with cinema operators, who have reacted with scepticism to the streaming giant's plans to acquire Warner Bros, a company known for its blockbuster cinematic releases.
The company had considered building its own cinema business over the years but did not do so because of other priorities, Peters and fellow co-chief executive Ted Sarandos told analysts on a conference call.
Netflix previously made it clear that it prefers to focus on delivering new content for its hundreds of millions of streaming subscribers, rather than releasing it first in cinemas.
With Warner Bros, Netflix is now acknowledging it would be acquiring a well-performing cinematic operation and says it intends to strengthen it.
Cinema operators and fans had feared Netflix could bring Warner blockbusters straight to streaming without a cinematic release. Sarandos now stresses that his earlier remarks on cinema dated from a time when Netflix was not active in the theatrical business. – dpa
