Larry Namer says vertical video will dominate by 2030

E! co-founder Larry Namer is set to appear on The Vertical Buzz on Sept. 10 to discuss vertical entertainment, Hollywood and the future of media. Namer says vertical video will become the dominant way people consume content by 2030, a shift he believes legacy media is still underestimating.

Why it matters: - Larry Namer is framing vertical video as a mainstream format, not a niche trend. - Namer predicts vertical will be the predominant way people watch video content by 2030. - The shift could force studios, streamers and creators to rethink production, packaging and distribution.

What happened: - Larry Namer, co-founder of E! Entertainment Television, is joining host and creator Buzz Leer on The Vertical Buzz on Thursday, Sept. 10. - The conversation will focus on vertical entertainment, Hollywood and the future of media. - The episode is being positioned as a candid look at where the vertical entertainment industry is headed.

The details: - Namer says vertical entertainment complements, rather than replaces, television and film. - He said vertical video will become part of the overall entertainment equation, while TV and movie theaters remain in place. - Namer says his view of vertical storytelling began about eight years ago while producing content in China. - He said 73% of the audience was watching on a cellphone, which led him to question why content was still being shot horizontally. - Namer also said people in the U.S. often treat vertical entertainment as a new invention, while China has been doing it for years. - He said legacy entertainment companies may misunderstand what makes the format work. - Namer warned that higher budgets and bigger stars could push costs up and move the format away from its audience. - His advice: produce for the audience, not for yourself. - Namer said vertical entertainment economics, microdramas, soap opera parallels, and possible expansion into horror and science fiction are part of the discussion. - He said every genre will eventually have a vertical component, including news.

Between the lines: - Namer’s comments suggest the vertical video market may be entering a new phase, with legacy media now trying to catch up to audience behavior that mobile-first creators have already embraced. - His warning about overspending points to a familiar risk: mainstream companies can professionalize a format so aggressively that they blunt the qualities that made it successful. - Buzz Leer is using The Vertical Buzz to position the show as a central forum for the vertical entertainment community.

What's next: - The Sept. 10 episode will likely sharpen the debate over whether vertical video is a temporary format shift or a lasting change in viewer habits. - Namer’s forecast will add pressure on entertainment companies to test vertical-first production across more genres. - The Vertical Buzz says it will continue highlighting creators, executives, actors, directors and innovators in the vertical storytelling space.

The bottom line: - Namer sees vertical video moving from a mobile habit to a dominant viewing format by the end of the decade, and he thinks Hollywood is still underestimating how fast that change is coming.