Short form videos and AI are changing the way we discover movies and shows on streaming platforms…
It has become an everyday routine: You get your dinner and sit in front of the TV, switching between Netflix, SonyLIV, Hotstar or whatever other streaming sites you subscribe to, trying to find the right movie to watch. You swipe past all the recommendations and then type in Romance or Comedy depending on what you’re in the mood for. The minutes pass and before you realise, you’re done with dinner but you still haven’t found a movie to watch.
Well, the streaming sites might already have a solution for your problem. They are introducing short-form videos as a way for you to discover movies and shows that you might like.
ZEE5 has partnered with Google Cloud to launch Clips, a new feature that uses AI to find interesting scenes from movies and shows and turn them into short, vertical videos. So instead of deciding what to watch based on a movie poster or description, you can scroll through an endless feed of movie scenes until you find something that catches your attention. You can then jump to the entire movie or show.
It’s a small change on the interface but it could transform entertainment discovery completely!
From scrolling through titles to scrolling through scenes
For years, streaming sites have been trying to solve the recommendation problem. They use your previously watched content as well as search history to recommend things you might be interested in, but they still have to pitch it to you. By employing ZEE5’s Clips strategy, they are using the content to advertise itself.
Clips uses Google Cloud’s AI technology to analyse long-form content, identify suitable moments and turn them into short vertical videos. This allows ZEE5 to create short content at a much larger scale.
The resulting vertical scroll follows a pattern that users are already familiar with, thanks to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts.
Streaming platforms are fighting for attention
ZEE5 is not alone in using this strategy. JioStar launched TADKA, a vertical-video product inside JioHotstar. It has already crossed 100 million users within two months of launch. More than 42% of its viewers were under the age of 24 and the daily watch time per viewer increased fivefold.
JioStar does not view TADKA as a replacement for long-form entertainment. They consider it a means to hook viewers onto the movies and shows they have to offer.
This means that streaming platforms are not just competing with each other anymore. They are fighting with every app that can give you something interesting to watch within seconds.
Old movies and shows are getting a vertical makeover
This trend is not limited to India.
The Australian TV show Neighbours featuring Margot Robbie is being recut into short vertical episodes for the Epis platform. Meanwhile, RoseBerry Media is using RedSnapper, an AI-assisted production system, to turn existing television and film libraries into vertical series.
This opens up another major scaling opportunity for streaming platforms. They don’t need to produce new short-form content. They can repackage all their existing content into micro-series.
And the audience already exists for it. According to ABC, microdrama content on YouTube received more than 6.5 billion views globally in the first half of this year alone.
The movie poster may be becoming a swipe
This does not mean two-hour-long movies will now become short-form content. It is just that streaming will replace thumbnails and algorithms. The strategy is simple: keep scrolling until you find something worth watching.
This technology also opens up the possibility for personalised content. Instead of everyone watching the same movie trailer, AI could curate various scenes based on your individual preferences. One person could discover a movie through its action scenes while another person could choose the same movie for its comedy content.
Long story short, you could soon be scrolling to find your next movie!
In case you missed:
- Brain Rot by Design: The Hidden Cost of Short-Form Videos
- Watching, Not Sharing: Why People aren’t posting on Social Media anymore
- Is AI marking the End of the Web Traffic Era?
- India’s 3-Hour Rule Signals a New Era for Social Media Platforms
- Selling Yourself to AI: The Hidden Cost of Intelligence
- Why You Should Never Reuse Passwords
- Why Indian Startups Are Building “Vertical AI” Instead of the next ChatGPT
- How to turn your Old Smartphone into a Home Security Camera
- India Is Exporting UPI Faster Than Ever. The World Is Buying In
- Governments move to rein in social media and AI for children
