Instagram Launches 'Features': 90-Minute Videos in a Direct Play Against YouTube

Instagram has begun testing a horizontal video format of up to 90 minutes called 'Features' in the United States, a strategic shift that positions the platform as a direct competitor to YouTube in long-form content. The feature, announced in a six-minute video by Instagram head Adam Mosseri himself, expands a trial already underway with Brazilian creators and marks Instagram's biggest push beyond short-form video since the discontinuation of IGTV in 2022.

A reversal of position

Mosseri was candid: for years, he argued that long-form content did not belong on Instagram. "For a long time, I have been against doing long-form video on Instagram," he admitted in the announcement video. The change of position is attributed, in his own words, to the persistence of Tessa Lyons, Meta's Vice President of Product for Instagram, who convinced leadership to reconsider the relationship between short and long formats.

"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 they're creating, you should be able to do that on Instagram," Lyons said. The underlying assumption is that the two formats do not compete—they complement each other. A viral Reels can serve as an entry point; the Feature offers space for episodic content, podcasts, interviews, and comedy specials that creators already produce on YouTube out of necessity, not preference.

The ecosystem mechanics

The 'Features' format does not exist in isolation. It is accompanied by two related tools. The first, 'Clips as Reels,' allows creators to generate up to eight Reels from the same long video; each Reels contains a link redirecting the viewer to the full video. The second is the episodic hub, a dedicated section on a creator's profile that groups connected Reels in a format similar to TikTok's playlist feature—currently tested under the designation 'Series' since spring 2026 in the United States, India, and Mexico, with expansion planned for more countries by the end of the year.

Together, these features create a layered video ecosystem: short content generates reach and discovery; long content generates retention and depth. It is the same reasoning that led YouTube to build an algorithm balancing Shorts and traditional videos, now applied to Instagram for the first time.

Expansion to television

Concurrently, Instagram for TV was launched on Apple TV in the United States—following versions already available for Samsung TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV. The television application automatically incorporates 'Features' content, transforming Instagram into a presence on both small screens (smartphones) and large screens (televisions), something YouTube has handled more maturely until now.

This expansion to home televisions is strategic: according to Meta data, average viewing time on large screens is significantly higher than on mobile devices. By positioning 'Features' as native content for TV, Instagram aims to capture a slice of the viewing time users dedicate to YouTube channels during longer sessions.

The monetization problem

This is where the biggest difference between the platforms lies. The YouTube Partner Program pays creators 55% of the advertising revenue generated by their videos, having already distributed more than $100 billion since its creation. Instagram has no equivalent per-view revenue-sharing model.

Instagram's native monetization is limited to subscriptions, live badges, branded content tools, and shopping features. The majority of creator income on Instagram comes from brand deals and affiliate commissions negotiated outside the platform. Meta states it is "exploring ways for creators to earn from brands, fans, and Instagram, including performance-based incentives," but a spokesperson told TechCrunch that "it's too early to share a long-term monetization model."

Meanwhile, Instagram is paying some creators directly to produce long-form content during the test phase, according to Variety—a subsidy approach that may be sustainable during experimentation but raises questions about scalability when Meta decides to expand the test globally.

What to watch

The current test is limited to a small group of creators in the United States, with a parallel trial in Brazil. No broad rollout schedule has been announced. But what Instagram is testing reveals a clear direction: the platform wants creators to permanently migrate part of their content to Instagram, not as a complement to YouTube, but as a replacement.

If Instagram can solve monetization—even in an initial, fragmented way—and if podcast and comedy creators adopt 'Features' as their primary format, the most direct consequence would be the erosion of what is arguably YouTube's strongest advantage: the catalog of creators who have built entire careers on the platform. YouTube has the revenue. Instagram has the users and screen time.

The question is whether creators will risk migrating to a platform that still doesn't know how to pay them—or whether YouTube will manage to respond before 'Features' becomes the new standard for anyone producing long-form content on social media.

Sources: TechCrunch, The Verge, NetInfluencer

✓ Independent sources cross-checked and verified before publishing