EXPLAINED | Instagram Wants 90 Minutes of Your Time. Should YouTube Worry?

What is Instagram changing?

Imagine watching a podcast clip on Instagram. The guest says something intriguing. You want the full conversation. Instagram would like you to stay exactly where you are.

The platform is testing a format called Features, allowing selected creators to upload horizontal videos lasting up to 90 minutes. The trial involves creators in Brazil and the US, with podcasts, interviews and comedy among the potential uses. This is a limited test, rather than a worldwide launch.

Creators will also be able to connect short Reels to longer videos. A clip can become the entrance to a full episode within Instagram.

That connection gives the announcement its competitive significance. Instagram wants a larger role in what happens after a short video catches your attention.

WHY DOES THE HOME OF REELS WANT LONG VIDEOS?

A successful clip can create demand for something longer: the complete interview, an entire performance or a detailed explanation.

Instagram’s product pitch is to serve that demand within the same app. A creator who has already built an audience there could offer followers more substantial programmes.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri had previously resisted long-form video, partly because extended viewing could reduce the sharing and interaction associated with shorter posts. He now describes an approach in which short and long videos support each other.

The business logic is straightforward. If viewers continue watching within Instagram, the platform retains more of their attention. Whether those viewers actually want to make that transition is what the test must establish.

HOW DOES THIS CHALLENGE YOUTUBE?

YouTube already offers the combination Instagram is pursuing: short videos that introduce viewers to creators, alongside longer programmes.

Its Related Video feature lets creators attach a link to a Short, directing viewers to another video or livestream on their channel. In July, YouTube published guidance specifically about converting Shorts viewing into longer-form engagement.

The rivalry, therefore, concerns who controls the journey from discovery to extended viewing.

Picture a comedian whose short performance clip attracts a new fan. If the full show is available on Instagram, that fan may have less reason to open another app.

This is an opportunity for Instagram, rather than proof that it will take viewing from YouTube. Creators can publish across platforms, and audiences may have different preferences for each.

DIDN’T INSTAGRAM ALREADY TRY SOMETHING LIKE THIS?

Yes. In June 2018, Instagram launched IGTV, built around longer, vertical videos. Some uploads could run for up to an hour.

In 2021, it combined IGTV and feed videos under Instagram Video. The history makes it misleading to describe Features as Instagram’s first encounter with long-form content.

The current proposal has a different emphasis: horizontal programmes connected to Reels, alongside an expanding television experience.

Instagram has previous experience of offering longer uploads. Its challenge now is to turn that capability into a viewing habit that creators find commercially worthwhile.

WHY DOES THE TELEVISION SCREEN MATTER?

A phone encourages quick viewing between other activities. A television can accommodate a longer, shared session.

Meta introduced an Instagram for TV pilot on Amazon Fire TV in the US in December 2025. By June 2026, it had expanded to Samsung TVs, alongside Fire TV and Google TV. Meta was also testing a dedicated home for horizontal videos and exploring longer creator programmes, episodic series and live viewing.

Features fits that broader direction. Horizontal interviews and performances can fill a television screen more naturally than a vertical clip.

The strategic ambition is to make Instagram a place people choose for an evening’s viewing. Achieving that requires programmes they want to return to.

WHO WILL PAY THE CREATORS?

This is the most consequential unanswered question.

YouTube has a published revenue-sharing system. Eligible partners who accept its watch-page monetisation terms receive 55% of net advertising revenue from the relevant ads on their public videos. That percentage describes the revenue split; earnings still depend on the advertising generated.

Reporting on Instagram’s Features announcement identifies no comparable new advertising-revenue-sharing programme. Existing sponsorship arrangements can support creators, but a brand deal operates differently from a platform routinely sharing advertising income.

A creator could initially upload an existing programme to test demand. Sustained investment in editing, production and distribution will depend on what the platform delivers.

Reach may attract the first upload. A reliable business proposition helps secure the next season.

WILL REELS VIEWERS STAY FOR A FULL EPISODE?

Some may. Others came for the clip.

YouTube’s own creator guidance distinguishes between viewers who mainly watch Shorts, those whose preferences depend on the subject, and those using short videos to discover channels. A link between formats does not automatically convert one audience into another.

For Instagram, the useful measures will include how many people open the longer programme, how long they watch and whether they return.

A 90-minute upload limit tells us what a creator can publish. Audience behaviour will establish what people want to watch.

WHAT COULD THIS MEAN FOR INDIAN CREATORS?

The immediate announcement does not establish an India launch date.

Its potential relevance is clear, however. Indian podcasters, educators, comedians and interviewers could gain another destination for full programmes, particularly where they already have substantial Instagram followings.

YouTube enters that contest with an established commercial relationship. In remarks published in May 2025, CEO Neal Mohan said it had paid more than ₹21,000 crore to Indian creators, artists and media companies over the preceding three years. That historical figure covers several categories of partners.

There are also Indian examples of the short-to-long approach already operating. In April 2026, Google highlighted creator Sheetal Gauthaman’s use of links between Shorts and longer videos. This was the company’s account of her strategy, rather than an independent assessment of its results.

SO, SHOULD YOUTUBE WORRY?

Instagram is testing a more direct challenge for full-length creator programming. Its existing audience gives that experiment a meaningful starting point.

YouTube has an established combination of viewing habits, connected formats and creator payments.

The next questions are practical: will Instagram expand access, help audiences discover longer programmes and offer creators compelling economics?

Allowing 90-minute videos is the opening move. Persuading people to watch, and creators to keep supplying them, will determine how serious the rivalry becomes.