YouTube Expands Its ‘Shorts’ Videos To Television Screens Globally

YouTube is extending its bite-sized video feature Shorts to the television screen across the world, the company said in a blogpost on November 8.

“We simplified the design of the right side rail but will be looking to bring additional functionality in future releases. We believe that this experience balances the fun and quirkiness of Shorts in a way that feels natural for TV,” it added.

This feature will be rolled out over the coming weeks to smart television models, game consoles, and streaming devices made in 2019 or later. Users will be able to play these short videos from the new Shorts shelf on the homepage of the YouTube app or on a creator’s channel page.

“Bringing Shorts to our community has transformed the way people create and watch video on YouTube. When we introduced this new format, we optimised the experience for the mobile creator and viewer,” Neal Mohan, chief product officer, YouTube said.

“Today, we’re expanding viewing access to Shorts to our fastest growing surface: the TV screen. While this may seem like a natural next step, an incredible amount of thought and care has gone into bringing this vertical, mobile-first experience to the big screen,” Mohan added.

During the pandemic when short video consumption started taking off, YouTube launched Shorts in India in 2020 to tap into the creator economy. The platform has been generating 30 Bn views per day with 1.5 Bn logged-in users every month globally.

In the Indian market, YouTube is facing major competition from Meta-owned Instagram’s Reel and many other homegrown apps such as Moj, Josh, Chingari, and Roposo. As no other short video app is yet available on a large screen, it might give Shorts an edge over other platforms, especially in terms of tapping the premium audience.

The short video market is predicted to grow to 650 Mn users by 2025, according to a report by Bain & Company, while there were more than 200 Mn short video users in India in 2021.