Starting Monday, Instagram launched a U.S. test of 'Features' — horizontal videos up to 90 minutes long — with select creators, after earlier trials in Brazil, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The product targets podcasters, comedians and other long-form creators, and pairs with 'Clips as Reels,' which lets creators excerpt short vertical clips that link viewers straight into the full video.

Instagram VP of Product Tessa Lyons framed it simply: see a podcast clip you love, click, and 'continue watching or watch the full video' inside Instagram itself.

The move is a notable about-face from Instagram's own leadership.

TechCrunch notes that head Adam Mosseri admitted in the announcement, 'For a long time, I have been against doing long-form video on Instagram,' preferring short content because Reels drives more shares and DMs — and that VP Tessa Lyons finally convinced him to give long-form another shot.

It's also Instagram's second swing at the format: the platform tried long video eight years ago with the now-defunct IGTV, which TechCrunch and Tubefilter both flag as a cautionary precedent.

The unanswered question, as Tubefilter puts it, is ad revenue. YouTube's Partner Program passes 55% of ad revenue to qualified creators and has paid more than $100 billion to creators, artists and media companies over the past four years, per TechCrunch.

Instagram has announced no comparable program.

A Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch it is 'too early to share a long-term monetization model' but is exploring ways for creators to earn from brands, fans and Instagram, 'including performance-based incentives' — a reply Tubefilter likens to a corporate 'we'll see.'

Instagram is also expanding Instagram for TV, which launched last year on Samsung, Fire TV and Google TV and is now adding Apple TV in the U.S., The Hollywood Reporter reports.

Lyons told viewers the goal is a home for watching 'together in living rooms,' saying in the announcement that 'the best viewing experience for longform horizontal content is on a big, horizontal screen.'

Tubefilter notes that living-room watch time commands high CPMs and brand attention — which is exactly why YouTube dominates the format.

The Hollywood Reporter names the first U.S. test creators: podcast host and Skims co-founder Emma Grede, beauty and fashion creator Monet McMichael, interviewer Preston Rakovsky, and football creator Donald De La Haye.

Instagram plans to expand Features to tens of thousands of U.S. creators and to recommend Clips as Reels on the Explore page. Variety, cited by KTLA, adds that creators can link up to eight short clips to a single longer video, giving audiences multiple on-ramps to a full episode.

Instagram says Features will roll out to more countries, with The Hollywood Reporter reporting a wider U.S. arrival by the end of this year or early next year.

The company is also testing 'Series,' a profile hub for episodic Reels aimed at the microdrama boom — it began courting microdrama studios in Southeast Asia in June — plus improved discovery for live video launching in Indonesia and Brazil before a planned U.S. expansion next year.

Lyons told Bloomberg, per the Los Angeles Times via KTLA, that the goal is 'to be the best place for social entertainment.'