The social media platform is promoting its new Instagram for TV app for Amazon Fire TV with a spot that turns entire living rooms into moving parts of a reels feed, brought to life by Special US and directed by C Prinz.
Instead of huddling around a phone to share your favourite reels, Fire TV customers can go on Instagram in a new experience built for TV.
The app is available in the US on Amazon Fire TV devices, and as the social media app garners insights from this early testing phase, it will expand to more devices and countries.
It marks the first time Instagram content has been designed for television.
Instagram began testing the app’s TV capabilities in December. The idea was initiated from user feedback which held that watching reels together is more fun, and current testing is designed to learn which features make that experience work best on TV.
The spot sees the scroll transformed into a shared, big-screen experience. By cycling through food, sports and art creators, the ad positions reels on TV less as linear programming and more as a social feed scaled up for communal viewing.
“Our mission is to get you to the world’s best content fast, and we’re thrilled to welcome Instagram to Fire TV,” Fire TV’s vice president Aidan Marcuss said.
“We’re committed to keep pushing the boundaries of entertainment on customers’ biggest screens—the Instagram team has built an awesome experience, and we’re excited to be the first place to offer it. We can’t wait to see what customers think”.
To access Instagram for TV, users must install the Instagram app on their Fire TV and sign in with their account. They can also open it directly from the Settings bookmark in the Instagram mobile app. The app supports multiple accounts so everyone in the household can enjoy their own personalised Instagram experience on the TV.
When users log in, reels are grouped into channels that match interests, including new music, sports highlights, hidden travel gems, trending moments, and more. This is an early test, so the experience will continue to evolve as Instagram explores new ways to watch and learn what people enjoy most. When something catches your eye, reels play automatically with full sound so you can lean back and watch without having to scroll for what’s next.
Search allows users to find favourite creators, browse profiles centred on reels, and explore anything they are interested in. Over time, Instagram plans to introduce new features, which may include using phones as a remote, a more intuitive way to channel surf, shared feeds with friends, and making it easier to keep up with your favourite creators in one place.
Safety and Content Standards
Instagram for TV is built for shared viewing, so the app applies content standards suitable for a broad audience. In this test, reels generally follow the PG-13 rating system recently introduced on mobile. These guidelines shape what may appear on TV.
For teens, Instagram for TV is intended to reflect the same general safeguards available on the Instagram mobile app. This includes limiting access to content, comments and profiles that may be unsuitable for people under 18. Time spent on Instagram for TV contributes to a teen account’s overall usage limits, and teens may receive the same reminders about approaching or reaching those limits or sleep mode.
The Instagram for TV app is available now in the US on select Amazon Fire TV devices, including Fire TV Stick HD, Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, Fire TV Stick 4K Max (1st and 2nd Gen), Fire TV 2-Series, Fire TV 4-Series, and Fire TV Omni QLED Series.
