I was today days old when I learned Instagram just announced the thing I spent all of last month wishing YouTube would be: a real home for long video, not another three-minute clip. Instagram is calling it “Features” — horizontal video up to 90 minutes long, aimed at podcasters, comedians, and other creators making full shows, not another Reel. The timing isn’t subtle. A couple weeks ago I watched my own travel channel get terminated by YouTube over “circumvention” — association with a separate channel I’d already lost — with effectively no appeal. So when Instagram shows up swinging at YouTube’s exact format, the obvious question is: should that channel have lived here instead?
Short answer, for right now: no. Here’s what Instagram actually announced, and why it doesn’t change my situation yet.
What Instagram actually announced
Today’s Reels cap out at 3 minutes. Features goes all the way to 90 — long enough for a full podcast episode, interview, or vlog. It’s rolling out as a test: Instagram already piloted the format with creators in Brazil, and is now opening a small US test with plans to expand it to tens of thousands of US creators over time, per The Hollywood Reporter. There’s no public sign-up or application — the early group includes Skims co-founder and podcast host Emma Grede and football creator Donald De La Haye, and reporting frames most of this round as individual deals Meta struck directly with specific creators, not an open rollout. The format is built to funnel from short to long: a Reel can link straight into the full Feature, so a 15-second clip becomes the on-ramp to the whole 90-minute video. Source: The Hollywood Reporter.
Where it shows up — and the catch
Features videos surface in the main feed, in Explore, and on Instagram’s own TV app, which started as a Fire TV pilot, expanded to Google TV and Samsung TVs, and just added Apple TV, with live-stream support described as coming “soon.” Source: Engadget.
Here’s the part that matters most to anyone actually weighing a move: unlike YouTube’s Partner Program, Instagram still isn’t sharing ad revenue with creators on these videos. A Meta spokesperson told Variety the company is funding some creators directly right now “to support them,” but that it’s “too early to share a long-term monetization model.” Source: Variety.
Why this doesn’t solve my problem yet
Three reasons. First, there’s no application path I could find in any of the coverage — this is Meta picking creators, not creators picking Instagram, so a channel our size can’t just show up and start posting 90-minute videos tomorrow. Second, with no revenue share on the table, the only real draw right now is reach, not a business case — and reach alone didn’t stop YouTube from being where the ad dollars and the audience already were. Third, nothing in the reporting says whether Features supports third-party uploads or an API at all; our actual production workflow — narrated recap videos built and queued on a schedule — depends on being able to upload programmatically, and I have no idea yet if Instagram’s version of this even allows that.
Still worth watching
Social Travel News already made its move: after the YouTube ban, its video embeds run on Odysee now, not YouTube. That’s not changing because of one announcement. But it’s a real signal that the appetite for a long-video home that isn’t YouTube is bigger than just my own bad week with content strikes — Meta built this specifically for podcasters and full-length creators, the exact audience YouTube has owned uncontested for 20 years. If the invite list opens up, or an API shows up, Instagram goes from “a press release” to “an actual option.” Until then, I’m just glad someone with Instagram’s size is finally admitting three minutes was never going to be enough.