The news: YouTube, the dominant streaming service on connected TVs (CTVs), is reshaping the way users experience content on televisions by prioritizing Shorts—its short-form, vertical video format—in the app’s Subscriptions tab. 

This change positions a dedicated Shorts row above traditional long-form videos. Only content from subscribed channels appears.

The move displaces immersive widescreen videos many users prefer consuming on large screens. It also highlights Shorts’ presence beyond mobile, directly challenging TikTok in a CTV platform it isn’t competing in. 

Changing the game for a captive audience: Unlike TikTok, YouTube is building a strong TV presence, even at the cost of frustrating loyal viewers in the process. 

• Shorts dominating prime real estate at the top half of the Subscriptions tab elevates pre-roll, mid-roll, and vertical display ad opportunities tailored for TV viewers.
• If this change is permanent, it could promote mobile short-form ads to reach a new audience on the largest screens in their homes.
• Users’ inability to customize or remove the Shorts feed hints at a more aggressive strategy—to normalize vertical content everywhere, even where it looks unnatural.

Key stat: YouTube Premium, Premium Lite, and YouTube Music surpassed 125 million subscribers in 100 countries and 20 languages in March, indicating unparalleled reach potential for Shorts.

The caveats: Pushing Shorts to the top of the YouTube app on TVs is rubbing some users the wrong way. 

Reddit is full of complaints from users forced to scroll past Shorts just to access the content they originally subscribed to, with some canceling subscriptions.

Roku’s autoplay ads, which appear before the Roku TV menu, sparked similar initial user fallout.