Adam Mosseri says Instagram is exploring building a TV app as part of a deeper video push, but isn't interested in licensing live sports or Hollywood content
BEFORE they go into TVs → Meta's mobile RPMH hit $207 globally in Q2, competitive with Netflix's $229... @richlightshed : 🔥 “GenAI will bring the cost of producing content to zero” [NOT good for catalog IP holders] — @mosseri to @KurtWagner8 at Bloomberg Screentime $META [image] Threads: Kurt Wagner / @kurtwag8 : I interviewed Adam @mosseri at Screentime this morning. We talked about a lot of things: AI, TikTok, creators. One bit I found interesting: Instagram is “exploring” building a dedicated TV app “If behavior [and] the consumption of these platforms is moving to TV, then we need to move to TV, too.” Mastodon: Janko Roettgers / @jank0@sfba.social : @Mediagazer They should call it IGTV! Oh wait ... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Instagram has repeatedly tested ways to make creator video more central, from the earlier IGTV push into hour-long uploads to a broader shift toward recommended content. The TV-app exploration extends that distribution logic to a larger screen rather than committing to a traditional premium-video model.
It also follows reports that Instagram and TikTok were both adapting their apps for TV screens. Later coverage of horizontal video and Samsung TV experiments suggests the question is becoming how the product and creator formats change once television viewing is a real use case.
First-order effects
- Instagram can evaluate a dedicated TV destination and tailor its video experience for television consumption without taking on the cost and operational burden of sports or Hollywood licensing.
- Creators and advertisers gain a potential additional viewing surface for Instagram-native video, while rights holders are excluded from the platform’s initial content strategy.
Second-order effects
- TikTok and other video platforms pursuing TV interfaces face more direct competition for living-room viewing time, with product design and recommendation quality—not exclusive rights—becoming the immediate battleground.
- Meta can test whether its existing video and ad system translates to TV viewing; the cited mobile RPMH comparison with Netflix makes monetization efficiency a key measure rather than subscriber-style content economics.
Third-order effects
- If social video apps establish TV use through creator-led supply, television distribution could become less dependent on costly catalog and live-rights acquisition and more dependent on recommendation systems and creator tools.
- The pattern would strengthen the shift from TV as a bundle of professionally licensed channels toward TV as another endpoint for algorithmically distributed video—though sustained viewer demand for long-form formats remains uncertain.
The trend: Social platforms are extending creator-led, recommendation-driven video to television screens while resisting the high fixed costs of traditional entertainment rights.