Knob
Intro length
You might say: time to the point, how long the intro is
How long before the video delivers on its promise. YouTube’s intro report checks how many viewers remain at 30 seconds; for Shorts, Jenny Hoyos plans for about one second.
- What it does
- Controls how many viewers the opening spends before the content starts.
- Ask
- How many seconds until the viewer gets what they came for?
- Typical
- Long-form: YouTube lists ≥ 50% still watching at 0:30 as above typical; Shorts: first frame to first second
- Trouble
- Retention falls through the first 30 seconds while you set up.
What to look for
- The promise delivered in the opening seconds
- Viewers still watching at 30 seconds
- A Shorts first frame leading into the content
Sources
- MrBeast, How to Succeed in MrBeast Production, 5–8, circulated production guide
The first minute of each video is the most important minute of each video.
- YouTube Blog, YouTube Shorts deep dive, The hook is everything
I really do think you have one second to hook someone, especially on Shorts.
Use it on your project
teardown-apply: hold "Intro length" (intro-length) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/content-creation/ against my project
Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.
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