After receiving considerable success with its short-form
video feature ‘Shorts’ that collects over 30 billion views in a day, YouTube is
planning to grow Shorts even more, by launching an exclusive Shorts player within
its smart TV app.
The Shorts player will display the videos vertically at the centre
of the screen, hence creating a more immersive experience for viewers. Details pertaining
to the clips, including title and name of the music track will be shown on the side,
along with quick access buttons to scroll up and down through the videos.
YouTube’s initiative is not really original however, as its competitor, TikTok, has already incorporated the same approach that enables users to access its TV app on the LG and Samsung smart TVs.
With over 120 million people engaging with YouTube content
on their TV screens each month and 75% of the users engaging with Shorts, the Shorts
player could become a major consumption sensation. Alongside, it could also be
a great opportunity for creators on YouTube to make the most out of their
efforts and drive traffic to their channels.
In addition to working on the Shorts Player, YouTube is also
bringing new Music features for connected TVs. These include the option of
browsing playlists, and transferring songs as well as albums to the YouTube
Music library directly from the TV screen.
