IGTV is accessible from a button inside the Instagram home screen, as well as a standalone app, IGTV will spotlight popular videos from Instagram celebrities.
“It’s time for the video to move forward, and evolve,” said Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom onstage at the fancy launch held for IGTV in San Francisco. “IGTV is for watching long-form videos from your favourite creators.” Just before he took the stage, Instagram’s business blog outed details of IGTV.
Here’s How IGTV Works
IGTV will let anyone be a creator, not just big-name celebrities. People will be able to upload vertical videos through Instagram’s app or the web. Everyone except smaller and new accounts will be able to upload hour-long videos immediately, with that option expanding to everyone eventually.
The IGTV app is available globally on iOS and Android as well as in the Instagram app, through a TV-shaped button above Stories. “We made it a dedicated app so you can tap on it and enjoy the video without all the distraction,” Systrom explained.
In IGTV’s dedicated app or its in-Instagram experience, viewers will be able to swipe through a variety of longer-form videos, or swipe up to visit a Browse tab of personally recommended videos, popular videos, creators they’re following and the option to continue watching previously started videos. Users will also get callouts from the IGTV button alerting them to new content.
IGTV will also let creators develop Instagram Channels full of their different videos that people can subscribe to. Creators will be able to put links in the description of their videos to drive traffic elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Systrom admits that “There’s no ads in IGTV today,” but he says it’s “obviously a very reasonable place [for ads]to end up.” He explained that since creators are investing a lot of time into IGTV videos, he wants to make that sustainable by offering them a way to monetize in the future. Instagram isn’t paying any creators directly for IGTV videos either.
Our guide will show you how to create an IGTV channel within the Instagram app.
Note: These screenshots were captured in the Instagram app on iOS.
Step 1: On your Instagram home feed, tap the IGTV logo near the top-right corner of the screen.
Step 2: Tap the gear icon on the right side of the screen.
Step 3: Tap “Create Channel” at the bottom of the screen.
Step 4: You’ll see a brief introduction to IGTV. Tap “Next” on the first and second screens, and then tap “Create Channel” on the third screen. Your channel will be created, and you’ll be able to start uploading videos to this section of the app.
