Instagram Pushes Into Long-Form With 90-Minute Videos, Series and Live Discovery
Meta's Instagram is expanding into long-form video, episodic series and livestream discovery, and bringing its TV app to Apple TV, as it intensifies competition with TikTok and YouTube and prepares for a broader push into television.
Instagram, owned by Meta Platforms (META), is stretching well beyond short clips. The app is testing horizontal videos of up to 90 minutes, giving episodic series their own home, pushing livestreams to people who don't follow the creator, and taking its TV app to Apple TV in the U.S. The moves go straight at YouTube and TikTok for creator attention, and at the living-room screen where YouTube has been strongest.
What Instagram is rolling out
| Feature | What it does | Where and when |
|---|---|---|
| Long-form video | Horizontal videos up to 90 minutes, so creators can publish podcasts, interviews and vlogs without sending viewers elsewhere | Beta starts Oct. 26 for select U.S. creators, expanding to tens of thousands |
| Series | Episodic short-form dramas grouped together for in-order viewing | Testing with select creators, reportedly in the U.S., Mexico and India |
| Live discovery | Recommendations that surface livestreams to non-followers, including within Reels | Testing now; launches planned in Brazil and Indonesia by year-end |
| Instagram for TV | Reels, longer videos and live shows on the big screen | Launches on Apple TV in the U.S. on Oct. 26 |
Long-form video comes to Instagram
The new horizontal format is aimed at podcasters, comedians and other creators whose work doesn't fit a vertical clip. Creators can link a short Reel to the full-length video, turning Reels into a way to pull viewers into longer content, and the videos are expected to be recommended in Explore and elsewhere in the app. The company reportedly tested the format with creators in Brazil before the U.S. beta, which starts with select creators on Oct. 26 and is set to grow to tens of thousands.
Instagram is reportedly working on deals with early creators, and the videos are not exclusive to Instagram, so creators can keep their existing ad arrangements. The shift reverses a long-held position: the app's leaders had said long-form video wasn't a fit for Instagram's core. Instagram head Adam Mosseri now frames it differently: "We want to be the most culturally relevant platform, and to do that, we need to show up where people are."
Series and Live get a push
Series gives creators a dedicated place for episodic Reels, a format that has grown with the popularity of short-form microdramas. Testing is under way with select creators, and Instagram is reportedly widening the test to more countries in the coming months, with a broader U.S. launch expected in late 2026 or early 2027.
On Live, Instagram is expanding recommendations so that streams reach people who don't follow the host, including inside the Reels tab. Testing is under way, with launches planned in Brazil and Indonesia by year-end and a U.S. rollout reportedly set for 2027.
The TV expansion
Instagram for TV, which began testing on Amazon Fire TV in December 2025, reached Google TV in February and Samsung smart TVs in June. Apple TV, which requires tvOS 26 or later, is now the fourth platform, and Meta says the app is available across most connected TV devices in the U.S. Instagram plans to bring the new video formats to the TV app, along with smartphone remote controls, the ability to save mobile videos to watch later on the big screen, and the option to pause a long video on a phone and resume it on the TV.
| Platform | Start |
|---|---|
| Amazon Fire TV | U.S. test from December 2025 |
| Google TV | February 2026 |
| Samsung smart TVs | June 2026 (2020 models and newer) |
| Apple TV | U.S. launch Oct. 26 |
Instagram VP of product Tessa Lyons put the logic simply: "We think the best viewing experience for long-form horizontal content is on a big horizontal screen."
Engagement and the competitive picture
Meta says Instagram engagement is at record highs, driven mainly by video, and that Reels are reshared through direct messages 4.5 billion times a day. Those habits are what the company wants to carry over to longer videos and the TV screen, where it is competing with YouTube, a dominant force in long-form creator video, as well as TikTok and streaming services courting the same creators.
What it means for investors
For Meta, the update is about time spent. Longer videos, series and live streams all keep users in the app for more minutes per session, and TV puts Instagram in front of audiences that have mostly watched creators on YouTube. The open questions are monetization, since Instagram has not announced a revenue-sharing program across short and long videos, and whether creators who already publish long-form elsewhere will treat Instagram as a primary home or just another place to repost. Alphabet (GOOGL), YouTube's parent, is the most direct rival on the TV screen.
Sources: Meta Newsroom, "Instagram for TV Gets Bigger, With New Ways to Watch Together" (June 22); Meta Newsroom, "Watch Reels on the Big Screen With Instagram for TV" (Dec. 2025). This is informational, not a recommendation to buy or sell.
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