Instagram is moving into your living room; Netflix is moving into your pocket

The battle for every screen

Two recent announcements confirm the biggest players in streaming and social are now competing for attention across more screens than before. Instagram for TV brought Reels to connected TVs through the dedicated app, and at the end of the summer, Netflix will add short-form content to its platform. As social and streaming converge in the living room, the distinctions between their content types shrink and the case for treating video holistically only gets stronger.

How Instagram and Netflix are trading spaces

Instagram has earned attention of phones through the likes of posts, Stories, Reels, and Threads, but expanding into a TV app makes consumption more of a shared experience. The Instagram for TV app was piloted on Amazon Fire TV in December 2025 and expanded to Google in early 2026 — and most recently — to Samsung smart TVs. These updates have allowed:

• Channel-based viewing: Reels are grouped into interest channels that can autoplay without needing to scroll. Channel topics include travel, music, and sports
• Casting: Users can cast Reels from their phone to the TV, making it easier to share content with a larger group
• Horizontal video: Testing out a home for horizontal video gives creators more ways to reach audiences; horizontal video is better designed for TV screens

Once the home of feature films and multi-season binges, Netflix is now embracing short-form content as a play to reach viewers who only have minutes to spare:

• Vertical videos on mobile: A feed called “Clips” pulls content from movies and TV shows with options to watch the full title, add to their list, or share The goal is to ultimately get people to watch more Netflix on their TVs, but the mobile experience provides mini moments for when users are in a scrolling mood. In the future, video podcasts and live events will be added
• Short-form streaming: Starting in early August, short-form videos that are 3–20 minutes will be available to stream. Content will be licensed from video providers like BuzzFeed Studios, Condé Nast, and People Inc., covering cooking, travel, and pop culture content from brands like Bon Appétit, Variety, and Hollywood Reporter

Ways for to stay sharp as channels blur

Updates like these aren’t completely new (for example, YouTube TV debuted almost ten years ago, and TikTok tested a TV app prior to getting banned), but the scale of changes is driving an overall shift. Other streaming companies are following suite on short-form content with Disney+ launching a vertical video feed called “Verts” and Peacock adding live vertical videos of NBA and sports coverage. And on the social side, Pinterest recently acquired the CTV ad-buying platform tvScientific, signaling they may start shifting to platform access on the big screen.

Looking ahead, brands will need to adjust their video strategies as viewing habits shift:

• Staying current on video trends is table stakes as lines continue to blur between platform, publisher, device, content, and buying method. Crossover between them will open opportunities that historically weren’t on the table, so keeping a pulse on the continued evolution here should inform every stage of the media process
• The competition for attention now spans a wider field. Users care less about how they access content and more about whether it’s relevant. Marketers must understand Media mixes should break down the walls between streaming, broadcast, and social and treat video buys as one holistic investment. But as video consumption becomes more fluid across devices, creative should still be built from a unified idea while adapting its format, pacing, and content to match how audiences naturally engage on each platform
  • Short, bite-sized video series designed on mobile (called “microdramas”) are rising in popularity as a way for brands to gain attention and connection with fans like episodes already do. Consider exploring series-type content on organic video channels or within ads to have your content feel like entertainment (rather than an explicit interruption) and promote your products in a naturally integrated storytelling way
• Snack-sized content is no longer only for an audience of one. The more short-form video reaches the big screen, the more that co-viewing opportunities grow, and reach may be understated for channels that were historically mobile-only. Consider co-viewing multipliers when planning and reporting to capture the full value of the investment