Instagram is bringing Reels to the TV as it takes on YouTube’s living-room dominance
With IG for TV, Instagram is turning short-form Reels into a lean-back, couch-friendly experience and making a direct play for how people watch video at home.
Instagram is officially stepping out of your phone and into the living room. The company announced on Tuesday that it’s piloting IG for TV, a new experience that allows users to watch Instagram Reels directly on television screens, starting with Amazon Fire TV.
It’s a move that feels both overdue and inevitable. As more people spend their evenings toggling between streaming platforms, short-form video has quietly become part of the couch-time routine. Sometimes you don’t want to commit to a full movie or a 45-minute episode. You just want something quick, light, and endlessly scrollable. Instagram wants Reels to be that option on TV, something you can flip to the same way you might channel-surf.
By expanding Reels beyond mobile devices, Instagram is also making a direct play for YouTube’s strongest territory: the TV screen. YouTube has long dominated living-room viewing, especially with short-form content increasingly consumed on smart TVs. With IG for TV, Instagram is signaling that it doesn’t want Reels to be a phone-only habit anymore; it wants to be part of how people relax at home.
The TV experience is designed to feel familiar. Meta says IG for TV is personalized, pulling from the same signals that shape your Instagram feed, so the Reels you see on TV reflect the creators and topics you already engage with on your phone. Content is grouped into channels and categories like comedy, music, and lifestyle, making it easier to lean back and explore without actively searching.
Unlike the endless thumb-driven scrolling of mobile, Reels on TV play automatically. One video flows into the next, creating a passive viewing experience that feels closer to traditional television, just faster, shorter, and more algorithmically tuned. Viewers can still skip ahead, like videos, view comments, and re-share Reels, keeping the social layer intact even on a bigger screen.
Instagram is also leaning into multi-account households. Users can pair IG for TV with their existing Instagram app and add up to five accounts to one TV home, making it easier for families or roommates to switch profiles. Alternatively, users can create a separate account strictly for TV viewing, which hints at Instagram treating the TV experience as its own consumption lane, not just an extension of mobile scrolling.
Emmanuel Umahi
Importantly, Instagram is careful to distance this new launch from its past attempt at TV-style content. IG for TV isn't a revival of IGTV, the long-form video app that Instagram shut down in 2022. Where IGTV tried to compete with YouTube on length and structure, IG for TV is doubling down on what Instagram already knows works: short, algorithm-driven video that doesn’t demand much commitment.
The launch also fulfills comments made by Instagram head Adam Mosseri last October, when he admitted the company was late to the TV space. Speaking at Bloomberg’s Screentime event, Mosseri said Instagram had underestimated how important television screens would become for social video, especially as YouTube and TikTok made inroads there. IG for TV appears to be Instagram’s long-awaited response.
For now, the experience is limited to Amazon Fire TV, but the framing suggests this is only the beginning. If the pilot gains traction, it’s easy to imagine IG for TV expanding to other smart TV platforms as Instagram looks to claim its share of living-room attention.
The takeaway
Instagram bringing Reels to TV is less about novelty and more about positioning. The company is betting that short-form video isn’t just a mobile habit, it’s a mainstream entertainment format that belongs on the biggest screen in the house. By turning Reels into a lean-back experience, Instagram is challenging YouTube’s dominance in the living room and reframing itself as a full-spectrum entertainment platform, not just a social app. If IG for TV sticks, scrolling may soon be something you do with a remote instead of your thumb.
Ogbonda Chivumnovu
