Instagram is making its way into your living room with episodic series and live TV on Samsung devices.

      Instagram for TV is expanding to Samsung smart TVs throughout the United States, making the app accessible on the majority of connected TV devices in the country. Meta announced on Monday that this expansion is accompanied by new features, such as interest-based channels, phone-to-TV casting, and the opportunity to watch Stories on a larger screen.

      The rollout for Samsung includes smart TVs from the 2020 model year and later. Instagram for TV was initially launched on Amazon Fire TV devices in December 2025, and then expanded to Google TV in February 2026. With the inclusion of Samsung, the app now covers the three largest connected TV platforms in the U.S. market.

      More important than the device expansion is what Meta is planning next. The company stated it is investigating longer-form video formats for the TV app, including episodic series that progress over multiple episodes and Live on TV, enabling live creator broadcasts to be shown on the big screen for the first time.

      The episodic series format builds on a feature that Meta began testing on mobile earlier this month. On June 2, the company started to roll out “Series” to selected creators on Instagram and Facebook, allowing them to organize Reels into sequential episodes with a dedicated hub on their profiles. Viewers who find an episode in their feed can tap through to the complete series, save it, or follow for updates.

      Meta informed TechCrunch that it is looking into potential monetization strategies for the Series feature but did not disclose any specific details. The company is also testing a dedicated area for horizontal videos within the TV app, recognizing that content created for mobile screens may not always translate well to a 55-inch display.

      The new channels feature categorizes Reels into interest-based topics, such as comedy, sports, and music, simplifying the browsing experience without needing to look for a specific creator. Casting allows users to send Reels from their phones to the TV with just a few taps, including videos from the Saved tab, a feature already available on Fire TV and Google TV.

      The strategic context is quite apparent. According to Nielsen’s Media Distributor Gauge, YouTube accounted for a 13 percent share of all TV watch time in the U.S., its largest since the metric began tracking in late 2023. YouTube’s connected TV sector is growing faster than any traditional streaming service, and every minute spent watching Reels on television is a minute not devoted to YouTube or Netflix.

      TikTok is currently facing challenges with content quality, as a recent Kapwing study revealed that nearly 60 percent of videos shown to new accounts are AI-generated low-quality content. Instagram’s move into the living room comes at a time when its main short-form rival is encountering credibility issues with its content, potentially allowing Meta to position Reels as a more quality alternative.

      Meta has been actively investing in creators to enhance the content supply. In March, the company launched Creator Fast Track, compensating established TikTok and YouTube creators up to three thousand dollars monthly to post Reels on Facebook. In 2025, Facebook paid creators nearly three billion dollars through its monetization programs, reflecting a 35 percent year-over-year increase, with 60 percent allocated to Reels.

      This push into living rooms represents Meta's second serious effort to bring Instagram to television screens. IGTV was launched in 2018 as Instagram’s counter to YouTube, allowing videos of up to one hour. However, it was largely deemed a failure, with only seven million downloads for the standalone app, and Instagram removed the IGTV button from its home screen within 18 months, eventually discontinuing the format in favor of Reels.

      The distinction this time is that Instagram is not trying to compete with YouTube on its terms. Instead of requiring creators to produce hour-long videos for a mobile-first audience, the TV app showcases existing short-form Reels on a larger screen. The episodic series and longer-form formats are being gradually integrated rather than introduced as an entirely new product.

      Connected TV advertising also represents an expanding revenue opportunity for Meta. Advertiser interest in increasing spending on connected TV is among the strongest across all channels, with net intent at 82 percent according to industry surveys, compared to 56 percent for paid social. Bringing Instagram’s ad-supported Reels to TV screens allows Meta to tap into a new reservoir of advertising budgets that have typically been directed toward streaming services and broadcast networks.

      There are notable limitations, however. The TV app is currently available only in the U.S., with no announced international expansion plans, and the episodic series and Live on TV formats are referred to as explorations rather than confirmed launches. Meta did not provide a timeline for either feature, and the horizontal video hub remains in testing.

      In December 2025, streaming accounted for nearly 48 percent of total TV viewing time in the U.S., according to Nielsen, marking the highest recorded share. This figure has continued to rise in 2026, and Meta is betting