Long-Form Video Strategy: Instagram Features Tests 90-Minute Shows

Instagram spent years training creators to compress every thought into a frantic vertical clip. Now it would quite like your 90-minute podcast, please.

Don't rebuild your workflow yet. This is a test, not a grand public launch. But it tells us where Instagram thinks the next attention battle will happen: on the sofa.

Instagram goes horizontal

Instagram is testing Features, a format for horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long. The trial began with creators in Brazil and is expanding to selected US creators, particularly podcasters, comedians and people already producing longer shows.

Alongside it comes Clips as Reels. Creators can pull short moments from a Feature, publish them as Reels and connect those clips directly to the full video. See the punchy interview answer, tap, continue with the episode. No profile hunt. No "link in bio" scavenger game.

Tubefilter reported¹ that Instagram also intends to recommend these clips and longer videos around Explore and other discovery surfaces. The Hollywood Reporter says the US test should eventually reach tens of thousands of creators.

The interesting bit isn't 90 minutes. Upload limits are plumbing. The interesting bit is Instagram building a bridge from cheap attention to deep attention.

The sofa is the prize

Instagram isn't chasing YouTube's upload button. It's chasing YouTube's position inside the living room.

That position is becoming enormous. Nielsen measured YouTube at a record 15.8% of total US television viewing² in August 2026, ahead of every other media distributor. Longer sessions mean stronger viewer relationships, more room for sponsors and content people may actually remember tomorrow morning.

Here's the awkward part. YouTube already has a mature system for sharing advertising revenue. Instagram doesn't.

Meta told TechCrunch³ that it's too early to reveal a long-term earnings model. It's considering brand deals, fan payments, platform-funded incentives and other options. Translation: creators can bring existing sponsors, but Instagram hasn't announced a dependable payout for Feature views.

So yes, Instagram wants your expensive long-form production. The cheque remains somewhere in a meeting.

Test without moving house

Keep YouTube as the library. Until Instagram publishes clear economics, don't surrender the platform already paying for long-form attention.

Build clip-ready episodes. Record horizontal, leave clean openings around strong moments and design each episode to produce several standalone vertical clips. One shoot. Multiple doors into the story.

Measure the jump, not vanity views. If you enter the test, track how many Reel viewers continue into the full Feature and how long they stay. That bridge is the product. Everything else is decoration.