Instagram Tests 90-Minute Features to Challenge YouTube Creator Video
Instagram tests 90-minute Features and linked Reels in Brazil and the U.S., challenging YouTube's creator model while payment plans remain unresolved.
Summary
On Monday, October 26, 2026, Instagram announced tests of Features, creator videos up to 90 minutes, in Brazil and a small U.S. rollout. Eight years after launching the now-defunct IGTV, Instagram head Adam Mosseri reversed his opposition to long-form video after persuasion from Product VP Tessa Lyons. Reels remains core because short clips generate more shares and DMs. Clips as Reels lets creators extract linked Reels from Features, viewers can save long videos to Instagram’s TV app, and Instagram is developing better Live discovery plus creator-profile hubs for episodic Reels, similar to TikTok playlists. Mosseri says Meta is committed long term to connecting short and long video across mobile and TV, though implementation will take time.
Instagram currently monetizes mainly through brand deals, with subscriptions, fan payments and a small performance program that Mosseri says costs far more than it returns. Unlike YouTube, Instagram generally does not pay per view. YouTube Partner Program members receive 55% of advertising revenue from their videos, and YouTube said in 2025 that it had paid creators, artists and media companies more than $100 billion over the preceding four years. Limited advertising space has prevented Instagram and TikTok from matching that model, leaving many creators to use them as promotion for YouTube. Meta has not committed to advertising or revenue sharing for Features, saying it is exploring earnings from brands, fans, Instagram and performance incentives. That unresolved payment model will determine whether Features can retain viewers and challenge YouTube’s creator economics.
Positives
- 90-minute Features gives Instagram creators room for deeper videos beyond the platform’s established Reels format.
- Clips as Reels links short excerpts to full Features, creating a discovery route between Instagram’s two video formats.
- 55% of video advertising revenue goes to eligible creators through the YouTube Partner Program.
- Brazil testing and a small U.S. expansion give Instagram two markets in which to refine Features before any wider rollout.
- Live discovery, episodic Reels hubs and TV-app saving could broaden how audiences find and watch creator videos.
Risks & concerns
- Instagram’s small performance-based creator program costs the company far more than it earns, according to Adam Mosseri.
- Meta has not announced advertising, revenue sharing or another long-term payment model for Features.
- IGTV became defunct after Instagram’s previous attempt to establish long-form video eight years ago.
- Limited advertising space has kept Instagram and TikTok short-form video from matching YouTube’s creator payouts.
- The initial U.S. rollout is only a small test, and Mosseri says connecting mobile and TV formats will take time.