Instagram is known for quick Reels, endless scrolling and videos that grab attention in seconds. But what happens when creators want audiences to stay for an entire podcast, interview or comedy production instead? The platform is now exploring a bigger role for long-form entertainment, raising questions about how far it intends to move beyond short-form video.
The shift is already taking shape through a series of experiments involving longer videos, connected Reels, episodic storytelling and television viewing. While the changes are not available to everyone, they signal a broader attempt to keep creators and audiences within Instagram for more than just a few minutes at a time.
Instagram’s New Features Format Tests Videos Up to 90 Minutes
The biggest development is Features, Instagram’s new long-form video format that allows selected creators to test horizontal videos lasting up to 90 minutes.
The format is designed for content that needs more time to unfold, including podcasts, interviews, vlogs, comedy and other forms of creator-led entertainment. Unlike conventional Reels, which have helped establish Instagram’s short-form video strategy, Features gives creators space to publish longer productions in a horizontal format.
Instagram began testing Features with creators in Brazil before expanding the experiment to selected creators in the United States on October 26, 2026. Reporting on the rollout indicates that the US beta is expected to reach tens of thousands of creators, although access remains limited while the company evaluates the format.
For now, the 90-minute option is not a universal Instagram upload limit. The company has not announced that every creator can publish videos of that length, nor has it confirmed a date for a full public rollout.
The test addresses a practical challenge for creators whose work does not naturally fit into short clips. A podcast episode or extended interview can attract interest through Reels, but viewers wanting the complete production have not always had an equally straightforward long-form viewing experience within Instagram.
Features could change that by giving longer videos a more defined place on the platform.
Instagram’s Long-Form Video Push
Instagram’s move into longer creator content is part of a broader shift in how major platforms are competing for viewing time. Our YouTube and Netflix creator exclusivity coverage looks at another development in the growing competition for creators and audiences.
How Instagram Plans to Connect Reels With Full-Length Videos
Instagram is not positioning Features as a replacement for Reels. Instead, it wants short-form discovery and longer viewing to work together.
Through a feature being tested called Clips as Reels, creators can turn portions of a longer video into Reels and link those clips to the complete Feature. Instagram is also testing the ability to connect up to eight Reels clips to a longer video.
The idea is straightforward: someone discovers an interesting podcast moment while scrolling, taps through and continues watching the full episode without leaving Instagram.
Instagram Vice President of Product Tessa Lyons explained the concept:
“What you’re now going to be able to do is, you see a clip of a podcast that you love, you can just click and continue watching or watch the full video, and you’ll be able to dive in and see the whole thing because creators are going to be able to link these Reels to their overall feature.”
The approach could give creators a way to use short clips to reach new viewers while directing interested audiences towards longer productions.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri has also acknowledged a shift in the company’s thinking. He previously opposed bringing long-form video back to Instagram because shorter content, particularly Reels, tends to encourage social interactions such as sharing and direct messages.
Instagram now believes both formats can coexist.
Lyons said:
“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.”
Mosseri has described the intended relationship between short-form and long-form video as “symbiotic”, with both formats supported across Instagram’s mobile and television experiences.
Why Instagram’s Three-Minute Reels Limitation Matters
One challenge for longer productions is Instagram’s existing recommendation system.
According to Bloomberg’s reporting on the rollout, Reels longer than three minutes are not recommended to new audiences. That creates an obstacle for creators whose content needs more time than a short video can provide.
Comedians, interviewers, podcasters and video bloggers can use short clips to introduce their work, but those clips do not necessarily offer the same experience as a complete production.
Features gives Instagram another option: creators can publish longer material without relying entirely on a collection of short clips to represent their work.
It also allows the platform to retain Reels as a discovery tool while developing a separate format for viewers who want to spend more time with a creator.
Emma Grede and Monet McMichael Among Early Features Creators
Instagram’s initial experiment involves creators from several areas of online entertainment.
Reported participants in the US test include Emma Grede, a podcast host and SKIMS co-founder; beauty and fashion creator Monet McMichael; interviewer Preston Rakovsky; and football creator Donald De La Haye.
Their involvement illustrates the range of programming Instagram is exploring. Podcasts and interviews are natural fits for extended horizontal videos, while comedy, vlogs, creator documentaries and other longer productions could also benefit from the format.
The test gives Instagram an opportunity to assess whether established creators are willing to bring more of their long-form work to the platform.
Importantly, Features creators are not required to make their videos exclusive to Instagram. Existing advertising and branded-content arrangements can continue to apply, according to reporting on the rollout.
Lyons explained:
“For established creators who already have those relationships, they can bring that content with those placements and that branded content. And we also think that there’s a big opportunity for us to help creators who don’t yet have that infrastructure and that business behind them.”
However, Instagram has not announced a universal advertising revenue-sharing programme for Features comparable to YouTube’s established creator programme.
TechCrunch reported that Meta is exploring creator earnings through brands, fans and Instagram itself, including performance-based incentives. A long-term monetisation model for Features has not yet been announced.
For creators, that means uploading a 90-minute video should not be treated as a guarantee of standardised advertising revenue.
Instagram’s TV Expansion Adds Another Piece to the Strategy
The long-form experiment is closely connected to Instagram’s push onto television screens.
Meta began testing Instagram for TV in December 2025, initially bringing Reels to Amazon Fire TV devices in the United States. The service expanded to Google TV in February 2026 and Samsung TVs in June.
In June, Meta said it was exploring longer-form creator content, episodic series and Live experiences for television, alongside horizontal video designed for larger screens.
Instagram for TV is intended to support shared viewing, with channels organised around interests and tools that make it easier to move content from a phone to a television.
The expansion continued in October 2026, when Instagram for TV became available on Apple TV in the United States.
Lyons highlighted why television could matter to the company’s long-form ambitions:
“We think the best viewing experience for longform horizontal content is on a big, horizontal screen, and so I think that is where we will expect a lot of the deep consumption to happen over time.”
Instagram is working towards an experience in which viewers can discover a clip on their phones, continue to a longer production and potentially watch that content on a television.
The company has nevertheless described its TV effort as being in its early stages. It is still learning what audiences want from social video on television rather than treating the service as a fully established business.
Instagram Series Brings Episodic Content and Microdramas to Profiles
Features is designed for individual longer videos, but Instagram is also testing Series, a way for creators to organise connected Reels into episodic collections on their profiles.
The format is particularly relevant to microdramas: short scripted stories released as multiple episodes.
Instagram began experimenting with Series in June 2026 and has been working with creators and microdrama studios as it develops the feature.
Bloomberg reports that Series is being tested with a smaller group of creators in the United States, Mexico and India. The company plans to expand the feature further, with reporting indicating that it expects to bring it to additional markets while continuing to explore how episodic content might work across mobile and television.
The distinction between the formats is important. Features provides room for a single extended production, while Series is built around multiple connected episodes.
Together, the experiments could give creators more options for publishing work that does not fit neatly into the traditional Reel format.
Instagram Tests Live Video Discovery in More Markets
Instagram is also experimenting with changes to Live video discovery.
The company is testing ways to surface live broadcasts within the Reels experience, including recommending content to people who do not already follow the creator.
The current testing involves Indonesia and Brazil, with plans to expand the approach to the United States.
According to Bloomberg, Instagram expects the Live recommendation changes to launch in Indonesia and Brazil by the end of 2026, with a US expansion planned for 2027.
The goal is to make Live less dependent on an existing follower base. If viewers can encounter broadcasts through recommendations, creators could reach people beyond their established communities.
However, these changes remain in testing, and their final availability and rollout plans may change.
Instagram’s New Video Strategy at a Glance
| Feature or development | Key details |
| Features | Selected creators can test horizontal videos of up to 90 minutes |
| US Features test | Began October 26, 2026, following earlier testing in Brazil |
| Clips as Reels | Connects short clips to longer Features; up to eight clips are being tested |
| Series | Organises connected Reels into episodic collections; testing includes the US, Mexico and India |
| Live discovery | Testing in Indonesia and Brazil, with a US expansion planned for 2027 |
| Instagram for TV | Expanded from Fire TV to Google TV and Samsung TVs, with Apple TV added in the US in October 2026 |
| Creator monetisation | Instagram is exploring options, but no universal Features revenue-sharing programme has been announced |
How Features Differs From Instagram’s Old IGTV Experiment
Instagram has tried to build a long-form video audience before.
The company introduced IGTV in 2018 as a dedicated destination for longer vertical videos. It eventually moved away from the standalone IGTV experience, integrated longer video into its broader Instagram Video strategy and discontinued the separate IGTV branding.
Features takes a more integrated approach. Rather than launching another standalone destination, Instagram is connecting longer videos with Reels, creator profiles, Explore, Series, Live and Instagram for TV.
That strategy reflects the platform’s effort to build on the audience it already has rather than asking users to adopt an entirely separate video destination.
It also comes after years in which short-form vertical video became a dominant format across major social platforms. Instagram is now testing whether its existing Reels audience can support longer viewing without undermining the sharing and messaging interactions that helped make short-form video central to the service.
When Will Instagram’s 90-Minute Videos Be Available to Everyone?
Instagram has not announced a date for the full public release of Features.
The US test began on October 26, 2026, following earlier testing in Brazil. The company plans to expand the experiment, but access remains limited while Instagram evaluates feedback and how the format could work across mobile and television.
Series and Live discovery are also still being tested, meaning their final features and rollout schedules are not guaranteed.
For ordinary users, there is no immediate change that ensures access to 90-minute uploads. For creators, Features is an experiment rather than a universal replacement for Reels or a confirmed new source of standardised advertising revenue.
More YouTube Features to Know
Instagram’s expanded video strategy also makes YouTube’s own interface and creator experience relevant to the wider comparison. You can see how one recent platform change affects viewers in our YouTube dislike button hidden menu explainer.
Conclusion
Instagram’s push into long-form video is about more than allowing longer uploads. Features, connected Reels, Series, Live discovery and the expanding Instagram for TV experience point towards a platform designed to support a wider range of creator entertainment.
Reels will remain central to short-form discovery, but Instagram is testing whether those quick introductions can lead to longer viewing within the same ecosystem. Whether the strategy succeeds will depend on audience adoption, creator participation and the development of sustainable monetisation opportunities.
For now, the 90-minute format remains a limited test, but Instagram’s direction is becoming clearer: it wants to give viewers more reasons to stay.
Source and research disclaimer: This article has been prepared based on research of the sources listed below and the information available from those reports at the time of writing. Testing details, creator participation, rollout plans and monetisation arrangements are presented according to the supplied material and may change as Instagram develops these features. The article does not imply independent verification beyond the information supported by those sources.
Sources
- Meta Newsroom: Instagram for TV Gets Bigger, With New Ways to Watch Together
- Meta Newsroom: Watch Reels on the Big Screen With Instagram for TV
- The Hollywood Reporter coverage via Yahoo: Instagram Tests 90-Minute Horizontal Videos
- TechCrunch: Watch Out, YouTube — Instagram Goes From Short-Form to 90-Minute Videos
- Social Media Today: Instagram Rolls Out Limited Features Test in the US
- 9to5Google: Instagram Tests Features Long-Form Videos
- The Verge: Instagram Chases YouTube With a Push for Longer, Widescreen Videos
- Bloomberg report via Hindustan Times: Instagram Rolls Out 90-Minute Videos, Microdramas
- MacRumors: Instagram Launches Apple TV App With Reels and More
Featured Image Credit: Viralyft / Pexels
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