A+E Global Media is taking vertical video from a marketing afterthought to a core distribution line. Ahead of Mipcom, the US programmer and studio group says almost 200 of its programmes have been reformatted as microseries and are now available for third-party licensing.
The library list spans true-crime, survival and reality titles including Cold Case Files, I Survived, Alone, Ice Road Truckers, Forged in Fire, History’s Greatest Mysteries, Hoarders and Married at First Sight.
Originals give the format a home
A+E is not relying on re-cuts alone. It has unveiled three original microdramas from Microhouse Film: Tides of Temptation, Matched With a Murderer and His Lies Taste Like Love. The company plans to launch a new series every two weeks on the Lifetime app, with seven originals slated before the end of the year.
Two of those are holiday-themed projects from VertTV, Casting Christmas and Destination Christmas. Tides of Temptation is positioned as a ‘digital companion’ to the upcoming Lifetime movie Terry McMillan Presents: Paradise with You.
A second window for library titles
Another seven Lifetime library films are being reformatted for release through the Lifetime app:
- A Lifeguard’s Obsession
- Burned by Love
- Danger in the House
- My Husband’s Worse Mistake
- What Would You Kill For?
- Secret of a Dean’s Wife
- College Professor Obsession
That turns the app into both a testing ground and a sales showcase for short-form rights, giving existing titles a second commercial life.
Why it matters
For buyers and planners, vertical microseries are becoming a separate rights category rather than a promotional clip. A+E is packaging known IP for short-form platforms and AVOD-style distribution while using its owned app to prove demand. Elaine Frontain Bryant, EVP and head of programming for A&E, Lifetime and LMN, said the goal is to ‘define its role within the Lifetime ecosystem’ and give audiences ‘another way to experience the stories they already love.’
The move sits within a broader shift toward mobile-first viewing, but the commercial hook is distribution: recognised library titles can be sold again in a new format with lower production cost.
What to do about it
For rights holders, the practical move is to audit library IP for vertical potential, starting with strong-format factual and true-crime titles. Pitch microseries as separate short-form inventory, not a bonus add-on, and use an owned app or channel to build proof before buyer conversations.
Do not treat vertical versions as mere promos or assume they will automatically inherit the value of the full-length original. They need their own packaging and sales logic.
Source: C21media
