Sources: Instagram and TikTok are working on versions of their apps customized to run on TV screens, following YouTube's success in attracting a TV audience
people engage, they post, they engage more, they buy, etc. Scraps of attention being fought over get smaller and smaller. Dev Sethi / @devssethi : brought this idea up while at IG in 2018. Was told by executives there was no interest in capturing that market (even though YT was publishing stats about how much ‘viewership’ and revenue were flowing from here). Only took 'em 7 years, better late than never! Alexandru Voica / @alexvoica : @kyurieff @KalleyHuang The reason YouTube works on a TV is that the content and experience on that platform is very similar to traditional TV programming. I'd never watch short-form video on a TV but maybe I'm too old(-fashioned)? Also, I remember Twitter had a TV app and it was terrible. See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Instagram has previously tested longer-form video through its 2018 IGTV launch, but IGTV’s early struggles showed that simply extending video length did not establish a new viewing habit. The reported TV-app work revisits that ambition through a different distribution surface.
YouTube’s TV audience provides the immediate competitive reference point: creator video can fit shared, lean-back viewing when the product and programming are adapted to the screen.
First-order effects
- Instagram and TikTok are reportedly allocating product effort to TV-optimized app versions, extending their video experiences beyond phone-first use.
- Their creators would face a new potential viewing context: programming and discovery designed for a living-room screen rather than an individually held device.
Second-order effects
- YouTube gains clearer validation for its TV-oriented creator strategy, while Instagram and TikTok must differentiate without assuming that mobile-native formats translate directly to television.
- A TV push could intensify competition for creators’ longer-form and group-viewing content, particularly as YouTube’s TV success has been tied to creator programming tailored for family and group viewing.
Third-order effects
- If these efforts gain traction, the boundary between social-video platforms and television distributors will narrow, with recommendation systems and creator supply becoming central to living-room viewing.
- The outcome remains uncertain: Instagram’s IGTV history and the reported failure of Twitter’s TV app suggest that device expansion alone does not create durable TV demand.
The trend: Social-video platforms are increasingly pursuing the living room as creator content shifts from a mobile-only attention market toward multi-screen distribution.