Instagram wants a bigger share of the living room.
The social platform is expanding to Samsung Smart TVs across the U.S. while testing episodic series and live creator programming.
Instagram for TV places Meta in more direct competition with streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video.
New features include interest-based channels, phone-to-TV casting, support for Stories, and a dedicated home for horizontal video.
Together, they create a viewing experience designed for larger screens and group consumption.
"Watching on TV is different from watching on a phone," Meta said in its announcement.
"We're exploring more formats built for the living room and aim to start rolling them out soon."
The update extends creator content into TV-style formats, while creating new opportunities for audience engagement and advertising inventory.
Creator Content Moves to the Couch
Instagram for TV first appeared last year as the platform's entry into connected TV viewing.
The latest update adds Samsung Smart TVs to existing support for Amazon Fire TV and Google TV, placing the app on most major CTV devices in the U.S.
According to the company, viewers often watch Instagram with friends and family, which influenced several new features.
Channels organize videos around topics and creators, helping groups find content more quickly.
Users can also cast Reels and Saved content directly from their phones, while Stories are now viewable on TV screens.
Perhaps the most notable addition is support for horizontal video.
Long favored by TV and streaming platforms, the format gives creators another option as the app explores content designed specifically for larger displays.
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Longer-form videos, episodic programming, and live broadcasts could create new ways for creators to retain audiences.
As platforms compete for viewing time, ownership of the living room may become as important as ownership of the mobile feed.
The $38-Billion Ad Spend
Instagram's TV expansion arrives as both viewers and ad spending move toward CTV.
U.S. CTV ad spending should hit roughly $38 billion in 2026, which is the pool Meta wants a cut of.
The shift here is structural, since CTV upfront commitments are set to pass primetime linear for the first time in 2026, $17.73 billion against $16.98 billion.
And creator video content is already winning on the bigger screen.
YouTube took 12.4% of all U.S. TV viewing in April 2025, the largest share of any media company Nielsen measures, which is the territory that Instagram is now chasing.
The data points to a growing overlap between social video and traditional TV viewing habits.
- Viewing formats matter. Brands should develop creative that works on larger screens to improve engagement during shared viewing experiences.
- Serialized content encourages repeat consumption. Publishers should structure programming on recurring formats to increase audience retention.
- Distribution is becoming device-agnostic. Marketers should plan content strategies that travel between platforms to maintain reach.
Remember that when social platforms compete for TV viewing time, content formats become just as important as distribution reach.
Our Take: Is Meta Copying YouTube in Reverse?
YouTube spent years pulling its TV-style content onto phones through Shorts.
Instagram is running this path backwards, stretching short-form social video toward horizontal formats, episodic series, and live broadcasts.
We think the move is smart, since creators already have audiences, and longer formats let them monetize attention without pushing viewers to another app.
The risk is that viewing habits don't cross screens automatically.
A creator who wins with 30-second Reels can lose a couch audience by minute 20.
Scrolling content and sit-back videos demand different production. If Instagram clears this hurdle, the payoff goes past longer videos.
It opens the door to premium programming, creator networks, and social-first entertainment built for the living room.
As social platforms compete across screens, brands need content strategies that work in every format.
Explore these top content marketing agencies in our directory.
