CNN rolled out this new change on November 10, 2025, moving short-form video from a buried “Watch” tab to a prominent place on the homepage.
That design decision looks simple on the surface, but it changes how CNN will reach you on mobile and how you, intentionally or not, will encounter news.
Below, we break down what the Shorts feed looks like, why CNN made the move, and how it changes your behavior as a mobile news consumer.
What exactly changed in the CNN app?
CNN added an immersive vertical “Shorts” tab to the top of the mobile app home screen on November 10, 2025.
You can switch quickly between a default Top Stories view (text + video) and the Shorts vertical feed. The vertical stream autoplays short videos and lets you swipe to the next clip, imitating the interaction patterns of social short-video apps.
The network explicitly plans to include vertical clips produced just for the Shorts feed, not only repurposed broadcast segments. CNN has already invested in vertical-friendly formats, plus the network’s multiplatform initiative, CNN Creators, also feeds into that strategy.
“In addition to showing all recently published vertical videos, the new Shorts feed will also include clips made exclusively for the stream,” CNN spokesperson Courtney Hardin told The Verge.
The Shorts stream sits alongside a broader product push. CNN has had a new streaming subscription tier, CNN All Access, since Oct 28, 2025.
The Shorts tab complements that paid strategy by keeping free, fast content at the front of the app while CNN experiments with other revenue channels behind a paywall.
Why did CNN build a TikTok-style feed?
The Shorts rollout is a response to three overlapping pressures:
- Audience behaviour: Younger users increasingly consume news in vertically oriented, short clips inside social apps. CNN needs to appear where attention already lives; relegating short videos to a “Watch” tab meant a smaller audience.
- Attention economy dynamics: Short-form video increases time-on-app and repeat openings. Those behaviors matter for ad monetization and for getting new users into a conversion funnel that might later lead to subscriptions or paid streaming. Short clips raise impressions and view counts far faster than long-form articles.
- Product bundling & funneling: CNN still sells content behind All Access. The Shorts feed works as a free front door, then, if you want premium programming, you can be guided toward paywalled features.
How will the feed shape your behaviour?
With the swipe-first feed, a few predictable behaviours change. They include:
- You’ll encounter more “lean-in” moments. Short vertical clips ask you to look at the screen and stay for 15–60 seconds. That habit increases the number of sessions per day and makes you more likely to click deeper into a story. CNN intends for those short pieces to act as gateways to longer reporting.
- You’ll get news in smaller narrative units. Instead of one long explainer, you’ll often get a 30-second capsule: a scene, one quote, or a quick explainer. That speeds consumption but can compress nuance unless the feed links clearly to context and long reads.
- Your ‘need for speed’ will increase. Short video rewards immediacy. You’ll grow to expect faster updates, minute-by-minute highlight reels, and immediate context during breaking events. That helps during elections or sports.
- You’ll see more targeted news. Short formats favor hosts, correspondents, and creators with distinctive styles. CNN has already launched CNN Creators to seed personalities that perform well in bite-sized formats. That increases the role of the presenter’s voice and framing in how you experience facts.
Who else has a news shorts feed?
News organizations have treated vertical video as essential for three years. CNN tested vertical formats earlier (CNN Shorts in 2023 and vertical video on social channels). The new feed institutionalizes those experiments.
The New York Times, BBC, and others have launched similar short-form offerings or scrollable video experiences.
So, what will the CNN Shorts feed do to mobile news?
If you want the short version, CNN’s Shorts feed will make mobile news faster. The feed gives CNN a bigger share of your attention and a free funnel into its paid streaming and premium content.
You should treat the Shorts tab as a new tool. It is excellent for quick updates and explainers, useful for catching breaking visuals, but insufficient by itself for deep understanding.
Use Top Stories for breadth, read the linked long-form reporting for context, and lean on verification signals before you reshare.