After YouTube, TikTok and other short-form video specialists have proven that viewers will cue them up in the living room, Instagram is launching an app on Amazon Fire TV.
The Meta-owned social platform has gotten traction with its Reels offering since launching it in 2020 as an answer to TikTok. Since then, the company wrote in a blog post, “we’ve heard from our community that watching reels together is more fun, and this test is designed to learn which features make that experience work best on TV.”
The Fire TV app is U.S.-only. Based on the results of the test on the Amazon platform, Instagram said it will consider making apps for other major streaming TV providers.
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“Our mission is to get you to the world’s best content fast, and we’re thrilled to welcome Instagram to Fire TV,” said Aidan Marcuss, vice president of Fire TV. “We’re committed to keep pushing the boundaries of entertainment on customers’ biggest screens.”
Up to five Instagram accounts per household can be linked to the TV app, enabling a smoother process from mobile to living-room viewing.
Advertisers will certainly take note of the new horizon for Instagram. The social network has become a key driver for Meta overall. The company posted third-quarter revenue of $51.2 billion, up 24% from the year-earlier period, with ad impressions up 14%. Reels now accounts for more than half of the time users spend on Instagram, and Meta is increasingly seeing it as the entertainment hub it has pursued through years of trial and error.