- CTV Is Prime Real Estate: Connected-TV ad spend is set to exceed $40 billion globally this year, growing faster than mobile or desktop video combined.
- YouTube Paved the Way: By outpacing Netflix in U.S. TV watch time, YouTube demonstrated that short-form and user-generated content can thrive on big screens.
- Instagram TV App in the Works: Meta is building a TV-native Instagram, bringing Reels to widescreen with remote-driven navigation and fresh ad opportunities.
- TikTok’s Couch-Friendly Interface: After six months of optimization, TikTok’s forthcoming smart-TV app will feature a binge-style feed and higher-production clips to suit lean-back viewing.
- Creative & UX Challenges Loom: Translating vertical videos to horizontal displays and replacing swipe-based controls with remote-friendly UIs will be critical to adoption.
- New Ad Formats Await: Brands can expect premium, less-skippable placements—mid-roll Reels, sponsorship integrations, and co-view experiences—beyond YouTube’s ecosystem.
- Reimagining Television: As social feeds enter living rooms, the very definition of “TV” will evolve from programmed schedules to personalized, real-time social streams.
Streaming ad spend’s surge into CTV has prompted social giants to rethink how vertical clips translate to horizontal screens—and revenue growth.
Social video platforms have long fought for thumb-time on smartphones, but now the next battleground is the big screen. Instagram is quietly developing a native TV app to deliver Reels in a lean-back, widescreen environment, while TikTok has spent the past six months optimizing its interface and algorithm for television viewing.
Both moves follow YouTube’s success: according to Nielsen, YouTube now commands more watch time on U.S. TVs than any streaming service, including Netflix .
By bringing Reels and TikToks to connected TVs, Meta and ByteDance aim to capture an older demographic accustomed to couch viewing and tap into the premium CTV ad market, where viewers expect polished, skippable-free experiences.
CTV Advertising: A Booming Opportunity
Connected TV ad spending is projected to accelerate over the next several years, outpacing growth on mobile and desktop. Analysts at Wedbush forecast that ad dollars flowing into CTV will grow significantly through 2028, driven by brands chasing the combined scale of TV audiences and precise digital targeting.
This influx of revenue potential is exactly what Instagram and TikTok are courting. By offering tailored, full-screen ad placements alongside immersive UGC, they can provide advertisers a new premium environment, one that blends the immediacy of social media with the viewing habits of traditional TV audiences.
Learning from YouTube’s Early Inroads
YouTube’s foresight into TV apps paid off: it was among the first to invest heavily in smart-TV integrations and CTV ad products.
Today, connected YouTube viewing rivals—and in some metrics surpasses—legacy streaming services. Instagram and TikTok are betting they can replicate that formula by blending snackable vertical clips with navigable TV-friendly interfaces and algorithms fine-tuned for binge sessions.
Insiders report Instagram’s prototype includes curated channels of top-performing Reels, personalized recommendations akin to its mobile “For You” feed, and ad formats built for remote control interaction—proof that it’s studying YouTube’s model even as it adds its own social twists.
Translating Vertical to Horizontal: Creative and Technical Hurdles
Vertical video’s success on phones owes much to thumb-driven scrolling and portrait framing; neither translates directly to a 65-inch horizontal canvas. Both Meta and ByteDance face UX challenges—remote navigation is slower than tapping, and simple portrait-only cuts can appear as pillar-boxed or poorly scaled on TVs.
To overcome this, TikTok is encouraging creators to produce higher-production-value, widescreen-compatible content for its TV version, while Instagram is exploring auto-reframing technologies that intelligently crop and animate vertical clips for full-screen play.
Early tests will determine whether these technical fixes can preserve the platform’s signature energy without alienating the living-room audience.
Beyond the Scroll: New Revenue Models and Creator Opportunities
For brands and creators, TV apps open doors to richer sponsorships and longer-form series.
Imagine episodic cooking demos, fashion lookbooks, or music live-streams designed for relaxed, communal viewing—formats that go beyond the 15-second scroll. Advertisers could deploy interactive overlays, shoppable QR codes for real-time shopping, and longer ad pods that respect the viewer’s attention rather than slicing it into quick-skip slots.
Moreover, by integrating with existing CTV measurement and attribution tools, TikTok and Instagram can offer advertisers unified reporting across devices, closing the loop between TV impressions and online conversions in ways previously exclusive to programmatic streaming platforms.
