Reels on the big screen? How Meta’s Instagram TV app could shake up ad strategies

Meta is exploring the development of a dedicated Instagram TV app designed to bring Reels to smart TVs, aiming for a potential launch in the second quarter of 2026. The proposed Instagram TV app is intended to provide users with a seamless experience for viewing Reels on larger screens, potentially integrating with smart TVs from manufacturers such as Samsung and LG.

Rahul Vengalil, CEO and Co-Founder of tgthr, expressed skepticism about the proposition. “Instagram in the consumer's mind is a short app platform where I am going to spend copious amounts of time just scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, whereas television is a much more engaged, meaningful relationship and consumers have a much more engaged and meaningful relationship with a large television or large screens rather.”

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He further emphasized the need for content adaptation: “Large screens are places where they indulge—which means that I am going to spend more time with different content types: humor, action, movies, series, documentaries, etc. If Instagram is planning to move into a big-screen app, then the current format in which content is created has to be relooked at. The one- or two-minute influencer-led content works very well on vertical, mobile-first screens, but on large screens, the experience is bad. The reason people watch television is indulgence—and Instagram hasn’t cracked indulgence for television yet.”

Sandeep Goyal, Managing Director at Rediffusion, offered a more optimistic view, saying, “The app would focus on vertical videos optimized for the phone-to-TV transition, potentially integrating with smart TVs from manufacturers like Samsung or LG. This could enable seamless casting or native app experiences, where users binge-watch Reels without the fatigue of holding a device. The Instagram app will be a bridge between mobile-first content and traditional TV watching. By doing so, Instagram could monetize through ads tailored to longer viewing sessions, potentially boosting revenue in a market where video advertising is projected to exceed $100 billion annually.”

Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram reflected on timing and direction. “I wish we had explored it years ago. If behavior [and] the consumption of these platforms is moving to TV, then we need to move to TV, too,” he said. 

Meta’s exploration into the connected TV space comes as its competitors continue to strengthen their positions. YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc., already offers a robust TV app with easy access to both long-form and short-form videos, giving it a head start in the market. Meanwhile, TikTok has experimented with TV integrations, but Instagram’s vast user base of over 1.5 billion could enable it to quickly gain traction in the television segment.

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Hari Krishnan, Managing Director of Content & Groupé Marcomm at Publicis Groupé India, remains cautious. “It’s not a simple one. There are many factors for IG's vision for entering the smart TV game as a response to TikTok and YouTube, and that's largely a US game. India is still emerging in terms of Smart TV, and mobiles will always be the big push here for at least some time. Indian brands have still not adapted to the vertical game.”

In 2024, India's smart TV market was valued at approximately USD 10.75 billion, with projections indicating a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.51% from 2025 to 2033. This growth is fueled by increasing internet penetration, rising disposable incomes, and the expanding availability of regional and vernacular content. Conversely, the U.S. smart TV market reached a valuation of USD 71.74 billion in 2024, with expectations to grow to USD 85.13 billion by 2033, reflecting a CAGR of 1.90%. The U.S. market’s maturity is marked by high household penetration and dominance from platforms like Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV.