The Meta-owned platform is testing long-form programming, expanding to Apple TV and creating new ways for audiences to discover full-length shows. But without a YouTube-style revenue-sharing model, can Instagram convince creators to make it their primary destination?
For years, Instagram has been the place where creators promote their videos. YouTube has been where audiences watch the full versions — and where creators make much of their money.
Now Instagram wants to change that relationship.
Meta’s Instagram announced Monday that it is testing horizontal videos of up to 90 minutes, a significant expansion into long-form entertainment that could bring full-length podcasts, interviews, comedy specials and episodic programming directly to the platform.
The new product, called Features, is launching with a limited group of creators in the United States following earlier tests in Brazil. Instagram plans to expand access to tens of thousands of U.S. creators, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The company is also introducing tools that connect short-form Reels to longer videos, expanding its episodic storytelling features and bringing its Instagram for TV app to Apple TV.
Taken together, the changes represent a broader ambition: Instagram no longer wants to be just a discovery engine for entertainment. It wants to become a destination for the entertainment itself.
For Hollywood, independent producers and the rapidly expanding creator economy, that shift has implications that extend well beyond social media. It introduces another potential distributor for professionally produced content, another competitor for television viewing hours and potentially another source of financing for programming that once would have been developed exclusively for traditional networks and streaming services.
From Three-Minute Reels to 90-Minute Shows
Instagram’s strategy centers on connecting the short-form videos that dominate its platform with the longer programming from which many of those clips originate.
Under the new Clips as Reels feature, creators can connect as many as eight short clips to a single long-form video. A viewer who discovers a comedian’s stand-up clip or a podcast interview in their feed can tap through to watch the entire program without leaving Instagram.
The company is also developing Series, a feature that organizes episodic Reels into dedicated collections on a creator’s profile. Instagram began experimenting with the product earlier this year, including outreach to microdrama producers in Southeast Asia, and expects to expand testing into additional markets.
The goal is to create a more continuous viewing experience, turning a few minutes of casual scrolling into substantially longer engagement with a creator’s content.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri acknowledged that the approach represents a reversal of his previous position.
“For a long time, I have been against doing long-form video on Instagram,” Mosseri said in the company’s announcement video.
His concern was that longer viewing sessions could interfere with the social interactions that have historically defined Instagram, including sharing Reels, photos and other content with friends.
But the growing popularity of video podcasts and creator-led entertainment has apparently changed the calculation.
“Reels is still going to be a core part of Instagram. But when you want to go deeper with the creators you love and the content that they’re creating, you should be able to do that on Instagram,” Instagram vice president of product Tessa Lyons said.
The Real Competition Is for the Living Room
The expansion comes as YouTube has become an increasingly formidable competitor to traditional television.
In February 2025, YouTube announced that its podcast content attracted more than one billion monthly active viewers. By October of that year, audiences were watching more than 700 million hours of podcasts on television screens in a single month, compared with 400 million hours in October 2024.
That represents a 75% year-over-year increase in television viewing hours for podcast content alone.
Those figures help explain why Instagram is investing in horizontal video, a format designed for televisions rather than vertically oriented phone screens.
Instagram for TV, which launched in late 2025, has expanded across Amazon Fire TV, Google TV and Samsung televisions. The addition of Apple TV in the U.S. broadens its reach into the connected-TV market.
The platform is also developing features that will allow users to save programming on their phones and resume watching on television, as well as use their phones as remote controls.
Instagram is no longer treating television as simply another screen for playing Reels. Its product development increasingly resembles that of a traditional streaming service, with long-form programming, episodic series, content discovery and a dedicated big-screen viewing experience.
That evolution comes as Netflix, Disney and other entertainment companies pursue creator-driven programming and video podcasts, recognizing that some of today’s most engaged entertainment audiences are being built outside Hollywood’s traditional development and distribution systems.
For producers, this creates a new competitive environment in which the distinction between a social platform, a creator network and a streaming service continues to narrow.
The Billion-Dollar Question Is Whether Instagram Will Pay Creators
For all the attention surrounding Instagram’s new video capabilities, one major issue remains unresolved: how creators will make money.
YouTube has spent years building an advertising business that shares revenue directly with the creators who supply its programming. Under its traditional long-form Partner Program, eligible creators generally receive 55% of recognized advertising revenue from their videos.
In September 2025, YouTube disclosed that it had paid more than $100 billion to creators, artists and media companies over the preceding four years. The figure reflects a broader creator economy that includes advertising, subscriptions and other revenue streams.
Instagram, by comparison, relies heavily on brand partnerships, sponsored content, fan subscriptions and selected incentive programs. It does not currently offer a comparable, broadly available long-form advertising revenue-share program.
Meta is providing financial support to certain early participants in the Features test and allowing creators to carry existing sponsorship arrangements into their longer videos. But the company has not committed to a permanent monetization structure.
“It’s too early to share a long-term monetization model, but we’re exploring ways for creators to earn from brands, fans, and Instagram, including performance-based incentives,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch.
That uncertainty presents a significant challenge for Instagram.
For established creators who already have substantial advertising partnerships, distributing full-length content on Instagram could deliver additional audiences and potentially greater sponsorship revenue.
But smaller producers and emerging creators may find it difficult to justify the costs of developing and producing higher-quality programming without knowing how those investments will be recovered.
The distinction becomes particularly important as creator programming grows more sophisticated, with multicamera production, dedicated studios, professional crews and increasingly ambitious sets.
Why Hollywood Is Suddenly Interested in Podcasts
Instagram’s expansion comes amid a larger realignment in how entertainment companies value creator-driven content.
In October 2025, Netflix and Spotify announced an agreement to bring video podcasts from Spotify Studios and The Ringer to Netflix, including The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Rewatchables and other sports and entertainment programs.
Netflix subsequently announced additional podcast agreements with iHeartMedia and Barstool Sports, securing video rights to established franchises with dedicated audiences. In June 2026, iHeartMedia expanded its Netflix arrangement with shows featuring Martha Stewart, Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson, and Lele Pons.
The economics help explain the interest.
Traditional television development requires substantial investment before a network or streamer can determine whether a program will attract an audience. Creators often arrive with that audience already established, along with valuable information about viewing habits, engagement and brand relationships.
Video podcasts can also be produced with relatively modest physical infrastructure compared with scripted television. A single studio, a standing set and a small production team can generate dozens or even hundreds of hours of annual programming.
That does not mean all creator programming is inexpensive, or that podcast economics automatically translate into successful television businesses. But the format offers distributors a way to acquire recurring content without the same production requirements as many traditional scripted series.
And increasingly, the entertainment industry’s largest platforms are competing for access to those audiences.
The Next Battle Is Over Who Controls the Audience
Perhaps the most consequential aspect of Instagram’s announcement is not the 90-minute runtime. It is the company’s effort to integrate the entire entertainment experience within its own ecosystem.
Today, a creator might publish a short video on Instagram, direct viewers to YouTube for a full episode, distribute the audio through Spotify and negotiate separate sponsorship agreements.
Instagram wants to simplify that journey, allowing audiences to discover a creator, consume an entire program and continue watching on television without leaving the platform.
For Meta, that could mean more viewing hours, more advertising opportunities and potentially stronger relationships with creators.
For YouTube, it represents another challenge to its position as the default home for independently produced long-form video.
And for traditional entertainment companies, it underscores a broader shift in how content is developed and distributed.
The competition is no longer limited to which streaming service can finance the next successful scripted series. Increasingly, it is about which company can attract creators who already have audiences, provide the tools to help them grow and offer compelling economics to keep them on the platform.
Instagram’s previous attempt at long-form video, IGTV, failed to establish a lasting competitor to YouTube. Features arrives under different circumstances, with video podcasts flourishing, creators operating increasingly sophisticated production companies and television screens becoming a central destination for digital entertainment.
Whether that is enough to change viewing habits remains to be seen.
But one thing is becoming increasingly clear: The line between social media, streaming television and independent production is disappearing.
And the companies that control distribution may increasingly shape where — and how — the next generation of entertainment gets made.
