Instagram has begun testing horizontal videos lasting up to 90 minutes as it looks to draw viewers to its TV apps, the website infohub.kz reports.
The new format, called "features," is so far available to a limited group of creators who have signed agreements with Meta. The company is initially targeting comedians and podcasters. The horizontal clips can be watched in the standard mobile app, but developers expect users to prefer watching long episodes on larger screens.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri acknowledged that management was concerned about a decline in interest in the familiar short videos. Still, the company hopes the formats will support each other: a viewer may see a short clip in Reels on a smartphone and then open the full version of the episode on a TV.
To that end, the service is expanding its lineup of TV apps: following the version for Fire TV, an app for Apple TV has appeared, along with support for Samsung and Google TV devices. On television screens, users can now watch stories, live broadcasts and series of related short videos.
The innovation is Meta's latest attempt to compete with YouTube for long-form content and major advertising contracts. The company's previous similar project, the IGTV service launched in 2018, failed to gain enough popularity and was shut down in 2022. According to Mosseri, developing the new direction will take time, but the company is committed to long-term work.