Why Vertical Video Is the Future Namer recalled producing a celebrity news show and discovering that nearly three-quarters of the audience watched it on a phone or tablet. His simple question: “Why are we shooting horizontal when everybody watches us vertical?” The entertainment industry, he argues, has a habit of clinging to old formats long after audiences have moved on. The companies that embrace vertical video first will define entertainment’s next chapter.
AI and Entertainment’s Future Namer compared today’s AI skepticism to the music industry’s resistance to digital distribution two decades ago. Labels spent years trying to stop the inevitable, only to surrender control to Spotify and iTunes. Traditional media is making a similar mistake by treating AI as something that can simply be ignored. “Technology marches on whether you like it or not,” he said.
The Creator Economy Goldman Sachs projects the creator economy will reach $480 billion by 2027, backed by platforms like YouTube, Meta, and TikTok. Creators have changed how people interact with media, how media companies budget, and how advertisers spend. Savvy music artists are taking advantage of this engagement wave.
Key Takeaway The future of entertainment is not about replacing great storytelling with vertical video. It is about adapting to the way audiences live. Television replaced radio. Streaming disrupted cable. Smartphones reshaped how people watch. Vertical video is simply the next evolution.
