Instagram Tests 90-Minute Features in US Without Ad Share

Instagram began a limited US Features test on October 26, 2026, letting selected creators publish horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long; a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch, “It’s too early to share a long-term monetization model.” The format is meant for complete work such as podcasts and shows. Access remains limited to participating accounts, and no general Features program gives creators a share of advertising revenue.

An October 27 account of the rollout describes earlier testing in Brazil, a separate Clips as Reels test that can link up to eight excerpts to a full video, a Series test for episodic Reels, and direct funding for some long-form creators. For viewers, the immediate change is a path from a short clip to the complete program inside Instagram. For creators outside the pilot, there is no public payment rate or open route to publish a Feature.

How Reels connect to a full Feature

Features holds the long horizontal video, while Clips as Reels gives that video an entry point in the short-video experience. A creator can publish an excerpt as a Reel and link it to the full recording, so someone who finds a moment from an interview or podcast can continue to the longer work in the same app. The clip and the program serve different viewing habits, but they belong to the same publishing path.

That connection is the practical difference between adding a longer upload limit and building a way for audiences to find longer work. A Reel can travel through Instagram’s existing short-video surfaces; the linked Feature can carry the uninterrupted episode behind it. The viewer does not need to search for the full show on a different service, and the creator can make an excerpt point to a specific complete video.

The link is part of the test rather than a publishing option available to every account. Posting an ordinary Reel does not establish eligibility for Features, and there is no published rule that lets any US creator request access. A viewer may see a selected creator’s linked program even while their own account has no equivalent upload option.

Availability across the four video options

The names refer to different jobs: long-video publishing, clip distribution, episode organization and television playback. Their US status at the time of the announcement is best read separately:

Features: A limited publishing test for selected US creators, following the Brazil trial. It is the format for full horizontal programs; general US availability remains undated.
Clips as Reels: A related limited test that lets participating creators direct viewers from short excerpts to a longer video. It connects discovery to the full recording; it does not turn every Reel into a long-video upload.
Series: A separate test that groups episodic Reels in a dedicated area on a creator’s profile. It organizes connected short videos rather than granting access to Features.
Instagram for TV: An existing US viewing app on supported connected televisions. Its availability concerns playback and does not determine which mobile accounts can publish Features.

A viewer’s access to a program and a creator’s ability to upload one are different questions. The Features pilot establishes that some US accounts can publish longer work; it does not establish that any account seeing such a video can make one. Series also has a narrower role than its name might suggest: it provides a home for episodes made as Reels, while Features carries the full-length recording.

What the pilot pays, and what it does not

Direct funding for some early participants is a payment arrangement, but it does not create a public ad-revenue share. That support is tied to creators working with Instagram during the test. No general Features eligibility terms, advertising split or per-view payout have been published for creators who may gain access later.

A creator who already has a sponsor can bring that relationship into a longer show; the resulting brand payment is a commercial deal, not a share of Instagram’s advertising receipts. That distinction shapes the economics of a podcast or other full program. A direct pilot agreement or an existing sponsor can finance a production, but neither tells an unaffiliated creator what Instagram would pay for audience viewing under a future public program.

Performance incentives and other possible platform payments remain ideas rather than published Features terms. Instagram has given no date for a public earnings scheme. Creators outside individual arrangements therefore have no basis to count on a payment merely because a full video draws viewers.

The TV app is a separate viewing path

In its Instagram for TV update, Meta listed Samsung TVs, Amazon Fire TV and Google TV as US viewing surfaces and said it was testing a dedicated home for horizontal video. That gives the longer format a relevant destination beyond the phone, although the TV app’s availability does not expand the group allowed to upload Features.

A short Reel can introduce a complete program on a phone, while horizontal playback suits a longer viewing session on a television. The next consequential decisions are how broadly Instagram opens Features publishing and whether it attaches publicly defined creator payment terms to that access.