Instagram Features Explained: The 90-Minute Video Bet, Why There's No Money Yet, and Why IGTV Died

Adam Mosseri said it himself, on camera, at the start of the announcement: he had been against long-form video on Instagram.

And yet here we are. On 26 October, Instagram announced Features, a format for horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long. If you're a creator, a marketer, or just someone who watches podcast clips on Reels at 1am, this changes how you use the app.

So this is two things in one. First, the plain guide: everything you need to know about Features. Then our take, because there's a giant hole in this launch and it's shaped like a cheque.

The quick guide

What exactly is Features?

A new section of Instagram for long, horizontal videos. Think full podcast episodes, stand-up specials, interviews, long vlogs. Up to 90 minutes each.

Who is it for?

Instagram is pitching it at podcasters, comedians and other long-form creators. The people already chopping their long content into Reels clips.

How does it connect to Reels?

This is the clever part. A Reel can link to its full-length Feature. So you see a two-minute podcast clip, tap it, and keep watching the full episode without leaving Instagram. Reels become the trailer. Features become the movie.

Where will people find it?

Instagram says Features will be recommended on Explore and in other parts of the app. It also fits into the TV push: Instagram has been building a TV version of Reels, and the Instagram for TV app has now arrived on Apple TV in the US.

Can I get it right now?

Probably not. Features was tested in Brazil first and is now rolling out as a test with select creators in the US. There's no India date yet, which is wild considering India is one of Instagram's biggest markets.

How does it fit with everything else?

Mosseri and VP of Product Tessa Lyons framed it as one piece of a bigger video lineup: Reels, Series, Live, TV and now Features. Instagram is trying to cover every length and every screen.

The short version

• Name: Features

• Max length: 90 minutes

• Format: horizontal

• Built for: podcasters, comedians, long-form creators

• Availability: tested in Brazil, now select US creators

• Money: no ad revenue share announced yet

Our take: so where's the money?

Here's what flooded the comments under Mosseri's announcement video: some version of "Why would I post 90 minutes here when YouTube pays me for it?"

It's the right question. Instagram has not announced an ad revenue share for Features. What Lyons said is that established creators can bring their existing brand deals and placements, and that there's "a big opportunity for us to help creators who don't yet have that infrastructure and that business behind them."

Translation: bring your own sponsors for now.

So why no money on day one? I don't think it's an accident. My read:

1. They don't know what a long-form ad on Instagram looks like yet. Reels ads work because they look like Reels. A mid-roll in a horizontal 90-minute podcast, on an app people open for fifteen-second dopamine, is an untested product. You don't promise a revenue share before you know the inventory is worth something.

2. A test is a test. Brazil and a handful of US creators is a lab, not a launch. Paying out before you know whether people will actually sit through long videos on Instagram would be backwards.

3. They want proof the habit exists. The entire bet is that people already watch long content together, on TVs, via Reels. If watch time shows up, the ads will follow. If it doesn't, nobody has to unwind a payment programme.

4. YouTube's revenue share is a moat, and Meta knows it. You can't out-pay YouTube on day one. So Instagram is competing on discovery instead: your Reels audience is already here, and Features gives them somewhere to go next.

That's a smart strategic case. It's also a hard sell to a creator who has to pay an editor, a studio and a guest's travel this month.

The ghost in the room: why IGTV failed

Instagram has tried this before. It was called IGTV, and it's worth remembering exactly how it went wrong, because Features is very clearly built to avoid those mistakes.

IGTV launched in June 2018 with a big live event, a standalone app and long videos, up to 60 minutes when uploaded from a computer. Landscape uploads only arrived in May 2019. Here's where it fell apart:

• A separate app nobody opened. Reports put the standalone app at around 7 million users by January 2020. Asking people to leave Instagram to watch Instagram was the original sin.

• Vertical-first long video. Vertical works for fifteen seconds of chaos. It's tiring for a 40-minute interview. The world's long-form habit was horizontal, on YouTube and on TV.

• No pipeline into it. There was no reliable way for short content to push people into long content. You had to decide to go watch IGTV.

• Reels ate it. Once TikTok took off and Reels arrived, Instagram's own attention moved to short video. In October 2021, IGTV was folded into "Instagram Video" in the main app, and the standalone app was shut down in March 2022.

Now look at Features. Inside the main app, not a separate one. Horizontal, not vertical. Fed by Reels, not competing with them. TV-ready. Every one of IGTV's failures has been turned into a design choice.

What Features still hasn't fixed is the one thing IGTV never really got right either: making it worth a creator's time financially.

So should you care?

If you're a creator: yes, but don't move your whole strategy yet. Keep YouTube as home for long-form. Start thinking about which of your Reels clips could become doors into longer pieces. The moment Features reaches India, the creators with a back catalogue of long-form content ready to go will win early discovery.

If you're a brand: this is interesting. Long-form branded content inside Instagram, where your audience already lives, with Reels as the funnel. Integrated sponsorships, not pre-rolls. That's the play.

If you're a viewer: get ready for the podcast clip you're watching at 1am to politely ask if you'd like to keep going for another 87 minutes.

We wrote recently about how 60-second drama apps rewired attention. Features is the other end of the same fight: not shorter, but stickier.

Frequently asked questions

What is Instagram Features?

Features is Instagram's new long-form video format. It supports horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long and is aimed at podcasters, comedians and other long-form creators.

Is Instagram Features available in India?

Not yet. It was tested in Brazil first and, as of 26 October 2026, is expanding to select creators in the US. No India date has been announced.

Can creators make money from Instagram Features?

Instagram has not announced an ad revenue share for Features. Creators can bring their existing brand deals and sponsorships, and Instagram says it wants to help smaller creators build that business.

Why did IGTV fail?

IGTV launched in June 2018 as a separate app with vertical long videos. Few people used the standalone app, Instagram moved video back into the main app and focused on Reels, and the IGTV app was shut down in March 2022.