HBO Max Adds Vertical Video Feed: What It Signals

What HBO Max Is Actually Testing

HBO Max has begun trialling a vertical, TikTok-style video feed known internally as short-form clips. The feature surfaces trailers, highlights and scene snippets designed to help subscribers discover films and series faster, without wading through traditional grid menus.

According to the reported details, these short clips are assembled with a mix of automated tools and human editorial oversight. The platform uses assisted curation to generate and organise moments, while editors help ensure the selections stay relevant and on-brand.

The move places one of the most recognisable streaming names inside a format long dominated by social platforms. It is less about competing with social feeds directly and more about borrowing a proven discovery mechanic to keep viewers engaged inside the app.

Why This Matters Beyond Streaming

When a premium content owner adopts vertical short video, it confirms a broader shift: discovery is now driven by fast, mobile-first, snackable clips rather than static thumbnails or long descriptions. Attention is captured in seconds, and the format that wins attention increasingly looks the same across entertainment, retail and services.

For brands, the lesson is that vertical video is no longer a channel confined to TikTok, Reels or Shorts. It is becoming a native interface pattern that audiences expect wherever they browse. Owned platforms, apps and websites can all benefit from a feed-style discovery layer.

The combination of automated assembly and editorial control is also notable. It shows that scale and quality do not have to be mutually exclusive when the process is designed thoughtfully.

The Pikup Medya Perspective

At Pikup Medya, we see this as validation of a strategy we already advise clients to prioritise: build a library of short vertical assets that can be repurposed across multiple surfaces. A single shoot or campaign should yield clips optimised for discovery, not just one polished long-form piece.

The HBO Max approach also highlights the value of a hybrid production model. Automation can accelerate editing, tagging and variant creation, but human judgement keeps messaging accurate and consistent with brand identity. For most businesses, the right balance is efficiency without losing editorial control.

Finally, discovery-driven feeds reward volume and consistency. Brands that publish steadily and test many short variations will outperform those that release occasional high-cost productions with no ongoing rhythm.

Practical Steps for Brands and Content Teams

Start by auditing your existing footage. Most companies already own more usable material than they realise. Trailers, product demos, customer moments and behind-the-scenes clips can be recut into vertical formats that suit feed-based browsing.

Design content for the first three seconds. In a scrollable feed, the opening frame determines whether a viewer stays. Lead with a clear hook, readable on-screen text and a reason to keep watching before any branding appears.

Adopt a systematic workflow. Standardise your aspect ratios, captioning, thumbnails and metadata so that clips can be produced and published quickly. Where possible, use automation for repetitive editing tasks and reserve human time for creative and quality decisions.

What to Watch Next

Expect more platforms outside social media to embed vertical feeds as a default discovery layer. E-commerce sites, apps and even service providers are likely to follow, because the format keeps users engaged longer and shortens the path to action.

For businesses planning their next campaign cycle, this is the moment to treat vertical short video as a core deliverable rather than an afterthought. A structured content pipeline built now will be far easier to scale as these formats spread across more channels.

Pikup Medya continues to help brands develop this pipeline, from creative concepting to production workflows and distribution strategy, so that short-form video becomes a reliable driver of visibility rather than an occasional experiment.

Source

Chip Online TR: chip.com.tr/guncel/hbo-max-da-tiktok-yolunda-dikey-video-ak…