Why This Matters: ShortsTV tests the waters of whether short films can gain traction on TV and online.
SHORTSTV, a service focused on short premium movies, has carved out a niche for itself with a full-time channel that claims to have a global reach of more than 33 million pay TV homes.
In addition to carriage with select operators in Germany, including reach in the Netherlands, Belgium, Serbia, Slovakia and Hungary, ShortsTV has also found a home on lineups, usually in the form of special movie-focused packages, in the U.S., with multichannel video programming distributors such as AT&T, DirecTV, Google Fiber and CenturyLink's Prism TV. It also sells short movies (generally defined as any title of 40 minutes or less) through digital partners such as Apple iTunes, Verizon Fios, Frontier and Amazon.
The cornerstone of ShortsTV's business has been traditional television, complemented by online. So far, the company has learned, perhaps unsurprisingly, that the online audience tends to skew younger than those who watch on traditional TV.
The next step in the evolution of ShortsTV could build a bridge between those two sides. It is geared toward over-the-top apps that can be paired with its linear offering by coupling usage data with an algorithm that creates dynamically changing content slates and playlists tuned and tailored to individual viewers.
Seeking Wide Appeal
As with any linear channel, ShortsTV, which features theatrical short subjects including Oscar winners, is faced with the challenge of appealing to the widest possible audience. But the rise of OTT and on-demand access to libraries has driven viewers to expect a more personalized experience.
That's as true with long-form TV shows and movies as it is with shorter films, which can include loads of unfamiliar titles that might be of interest to viewers. It's a really difficult proposition to get [consumers] to choose to invest even two minutes picking a short movie that might only be two minutes, Carter Pilcher, CEO of Shorts International, said.
To address the challenge, the ShortsTV App, targeted to set-top boxes at first, delivers an A.I.-assisted, curated experience that takes the lead in picking and choosing titles. Those titles can then be built into a playlist that, to the consumer, looks like a linear channel. The app will launch with a catalog of about 2,500 movies. You can build endless playlists, Pilcher said. However, it always feels like you're watching TV. Pilcher likens this to how Spotify and Pandora personalize their digital music services, only in this case applied to short movies.
For the new app, ShortsTV is working with Icreon on the front end and Ooyala on the back end.
A Tall Order
ShortsTV's app was spawned in part by a request from Liberty Global and its Ziggo operation in the Netherlands. They asked if ShortsTV would develop an app that was not as menu-based but that made its video-on-demand content more accessible, and see if that could help bump up the rate at which consumers were watching that content.
Ziggo has been testing that app on Liberty Global's Horizon-class boxes, and launched it in February. ShortsTV hasn't released data on the new app yet, but it said the early results are promising, as it has been outperforming its legacy, menu-based VOD offering.
We're seeing a lot of repeat usage, Pilcher said, noting app users can also build playlists based on specific genres, such as animation, comedies and crime dramas.
This complementary approach that links ShortsTV's television and online capabilities is something that Pilcher calls big TV.
We didn't want to build an app that took away from the TV experience, but give [viewers] something that augmented and expanded the TV experience, he said.
ShortsTV is in talks with Liberty Global about offering the new app in some of its other markets. And ShortsTV is also thinking beyond the TV, as it's developing a mobile version of its app for smartphones, tablets and laptop browsers that's expected to start testing in April and roll out commercially in May. It won't be a stand-alone offer in that it will be an authenticated app for consumers who subscribe to ShortsTV through an MVPD.
Pilcher said ShortsTV has talks underway to expand its distribution with MVPDs in the U.S. and in other parts of the world, including major providers in India and Latin America.
But those talks, he stressed, are focused on deals that would include both the ShortsTV linear channel as well as the app, as the programmer currently has no intention of making the new app available as a pure standalone.
Why This Matters: ShortsTV tests the waters of whether short films can gain traction on TV and online.
SHORTSTV, a service focused on short premium movies, has carved out a niche for itself with a full-time channel that claims to have a global reach of more than 33 million pay TV homes.Subscribe for full article
Member Exclusive
Get Access to Our Exclusive Content
Learn MoreAlready subscribed?Log In
Most recent headlines
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Inducts 10 Industry Icons During Unforgettable ...
17/12/2025
ESPN to Debut MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats, a New AI-Driven NFL Data-AltCastThe series, powered by Adrenaline TruPlay AI, launches Dec. 22 and runs through ...
17/12/2025
Inaugural Optum Golf Channel Games Debut Under the Lights' in Primetime on ...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Audiences Watched Over 103 Billion Minutes of TV on Thanksgiving Day
NFL Games ...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Stars Visit Berklee for Weeklong Celebration Andrew Choi and EJAE, who voiced the film's main characters and contributed to its soundtr...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Inside The Unseen World Of Indian Customs: Netflix Reveals The...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix announces PAPARAZZI KING: the docu series coming to Ne...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First Look at Jo Nesbo's Detective Hole Pr...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Welcomes Warner Bros. Discovery Board Recommendation
Business
17 December 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
After Careful Revi...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
The Hao AI Lab research team at the University of California San Diego - at the forefront of pioneering AI model innovation - recently received an NVIDIA DGX B...
17/12/2025
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Harlem Globetrotters Celebrate 100th Anniversary With New Brand Campaign From Th...
15/12/2025
Top L-R: La Tierra Del Valor (The Home of the Brave), Mangittatuarjuk (The Gnawe...
15/12/2025
L3Harris will leverage 15 years of experience supporting the E-4B Nightwatch and...
Why This Matters: ShortsTV tests the waters of whether short films can gain traction on TV and online.
