Instagram is testing horizontal video on Instagram for TV, plans to experiment with longer-form storytelling and episodic series, and launches on Samsung TV
The Meta-owned company is going decidedly retro by experimenting with time-honored video formats with its creators.
Context & Ripple Effects
Instagram’s TV push builds on an initial Fire TV test announced in late 2025 and now extends to Samsung TV. The format experimentation also revisits a recurring tension in Instagram video: IGTV added hour-long uploads and later landscape support, while subsequent product work emphasized TikTok-like vertical feeds and Reels.
This matters because Instagram is pairing wider TV distribution with creator programming designed for a screen and viewing session unlike its core mobile feed.
First-order effects
- Instagram for TV gains distribution on Samsung TV while testing horizontal video, giving participating creators a venue for longer-form and episodic work.
- Meta must support a more TV-native viewing experience alongside Instagram’s established vertical, short-form video formats.
Second-order effects
- Creators have an incentive to test programming that can work across mobile Instagram and living-room screens, increasing the importance of packaging video in multiple formats.
- TV-platform expansion makes device partnerships more consequential for Instagram’s video reach, following its earlier Fire TV test.
Third-order effects
- If the tests expand, Instagram could evolve from a primarily mobile social-video destination into a cross-screen creator distribution product, with format choices shaped by both feeds and TV viewing.
- The initiative tests whether a service that consolidated video around Reels can also sustain distinct long-form and episodic formats without recreating the fragmentation associated with earlier IGTV efforts.
The trend: Instagram is broadening from mobile-first short video toward cross-screen creator programming, using TV apps and horizontal formats to pursue longer viewing sessions.