Instagram VP says short-form "won't be enough" for CTV; long-form push with podcasts and mini-dramas in two-year roadmap
Instagram VP of Product Tessa Lyons told the Scalable Summit last week that short-form vertical content "is not going to be enough to succeed on TV." Lyons said Instagram's roadmap includes podcasts, live-streams, and mini-dramas as part of a two-year plan to build the app into "a unique part of creators' long-form strategy." Instagram launched a CTV app in December 2025 using a YouTube-style interface. YouTube is currently the most-watched streaming service in the US by total time, ahead of Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video on connected TV. Instagram shut down a prior long-form push, IGTV, in 2022 after a 2018 launch, but the December 2025 CTV app gives this attempt a distribution channel that IGTV never had.
THE BREAKDOWN
A two-year timeline means agents negotiating Instagram creator contracts today should build in long-form exclusivity windows and deliverable definitions, not just Reels minimums. If Instagram offers YouTube-equivalent CPMs on CTV ad inventory, the per-creator dollar value of an Instagram-first strategy increases significantly. Brands running Instagram campaigns should ask for first-mover rates on CTV placements before standardized pricing is set by the market. Podcasters and long-form YouTube creators who have avoided Instagram should open conversations with the platform now -- the incoming long-form buildout will bring incentive money to attract that content inventory.
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