Last year, Instagram announced IGTV — a new featured designed to deliver longform content from Instagram creators, influencers and brands.

Designed to be set apart from certain other online video platforms (including Facebook’s own video feature), IGTV initially made integrated video: it retained the format of Instagram Stories and vertical video a key part of its announcement.

“You could create hour-long episodes of a long-term series, or use Instagram TV as an extension of your standard Instagram profile,” wrote Rebekah Carter at SproutSocial after the announcement.

All of that remains true, but now brands can use IGTV to publish horizontal video. The change was in response to requests from content creators, according to Instagram:

“We’ve learned and grown a lot in this first year. In meeting with creators and viewers, we’ve heard about what they like – and what needs to be improved. Today marks yet another change for IGTV – and it once again comes from listening to our creators and viewers. We’ve heard from creators who want to upload landscape videos for IGTV. Similarly, we’ve heard from viewers who come across landscape videos in IGTV but want to watch them in a more natural way. That’s why we’re announcing support for landscape videos in addition to vertical. Ultimately, our vision is to make IGTV a destination for great content no matter how it’s shot so creators can express themselves how they want.”

In and of itself, the move isn’t a huge one. But some advertisers think that it could be the first step toward monetizing that particular channel of Instagram. And AdAge reports that several advertising executives told them that they have been approached by Instagram about advertising on IGTV.

“The theory is that IGTV’s support for landscape mode will yield a bumper crop of diverse new content, and, by extension, a lift in viewing,” writes Todd Spangler at Variety.

Including horizontal video on the platform certainly makes it more ad-friendly and budget friendly. Up until now, many media companies had to create content specific to Instagram’s platform. With the new change, IGTV can simply become another channel by which to share video — and soon, ad creatives.

In the past year, YouTube has been inundated with grievances, regarding their brand safety. 250 brands actually stopped advertising on YouTube at one moment in time because they felt like their inventory was at risk. Half of advertisers still say YouTube has done a poor job with managing quality. With YouTube in its most vulnerable state, Instagram’s IGTV could threaten the platform’s monopoly on long-form advertising.

The panel consisted of five advertising experts.

MediaRadar Co-Founder and CEO, Todd Krizelman was among the panelists. He was joined by four others, all with various, but impressive backgrounds.

The Moderator

Kerry Flynn (@kerrymflynn) | Media Buying & Platforms Reporter, Digiday

Kerry Flynn is a business reporter who started in newspapers as a student and intern, drifted to magazines like Forbes, and now has spent the past few years in the online media industry. She recently moved from tech reporting at Newsweek Media Group and Mashable to the advertising beat at Digiday to analyze how digital platforms have altered brand strategies. Flynn is a graduate of Harvard University.

The Panelists

Kaydee Bridges (@kaydeebird) | VP, Digital & Social Media Strategy, Goldman Sachs

Kaydee Bridges’ digital and social media work at Goldman Sachs has won several awards from Midas, Digiday Content Marketing Awards, and the Financial Communications Society. Previously, Bridges was at JPMorgan Chase for 10 years, most recently as Vice President, Digital and Social Strategy in the Digital Marketing Group. She also worked in JPMorgan Chase’s Global Philanthropy group, where she launched and led the firm’s first presence on Facebook: Chase Community Giving, a crowd-sourced philanthropic program, which donated over $30 million to thousands of charities. Bridges holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BSFS in International Politics from Georgetown University.

Elijah Harris (@RepriseMedia) | VP, Head of Social Media, US, Reprise Digital

Elijah Harris leads all paid social efforts across Mediabrands US, where he is responsible for driving the discipline’s growth and expansion, as well as the development of the agency’s core product capabilities. Elijah is passionate about data-driven performance, with nearly ten years of experience across the digital landscape. He teaches the agency how to leverage social data and insights to make informed decisions on behalf of Reprise brands. His approach is grounded in a meticulous analysis of the consumer and a solid understanding of the ever-evolving media landscape. Reprise’s clients include Coca Cola, Spotify, Merck, BMW, and Accenture.

Todd Krizelman (@ToddKrizelman) | Co-Founder & CEO, MediaRadar

Growing up in Palo Alto, Todd Krizelman was born and raised near the epicenter of technological innovation. Krizelman joined veteran web architect, Jesse Keller, to found MediaRadar in 2007. After years of thorough research, development, and data collection, MediaRadar is now the most comprehensive data company focused on the ad sales market. He previously co-founded one of the world’s first social media sites, theGlobe.com, and led the site from inception to taking it public on NASDAQ. Krizelman is a graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Business School.

Noah Mallin (@NoahMallin) | Managing Partner, Head of Experience, Content, Sponsorship, Wavemaker North America

Noah Mallin is a marketing and advertising veteran with more than a dozen years of experience across three holding companies and a slew of Fortune 500 clients. He’s currently the head of the Content and Experience practice for Wavemaker North America, part of WPP’s Group M set of media agencies. Leading a team of specialists, Noah leverages his innovative mindset to build a data–driven purchase journey approach to compelling marketing, winning a Cannes Gold and Silver Lion in 2017 for Marriott’s MLive creative data suite among other awards. Wavemaker’s clients include IKEA, L’Oreal, Danone, Church & Dwight, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, and Adobe.

Brittany Richter (@belizabeth86) | VP, Head of Social Media, US, iProspect

A passionate and driven integrated digital marketing professional, Brittany Richter specializes in social media, specifically in paid social strategy and strategic activation. Richter has experience teaching at the college level, speaking and presenting workshops at conferences, corporate trainings, and career counseling sessions. Her workshops incorporate market research by creating, designing, implementing, and evaluating attitudinal survey instruments. Richter is a double alumna of the University of Delaware, earning both her Bachelors and Masters there.

The Space

The Instagram vs. YouTube panel was held at the gorgeous Helen Mills event space in midtown Manhattan. The beautiful space and incredible food would have served as enough for visitors, but that’s only where the night began.

Three Takeaways

1. Instagram’s IGTV has transformed and expanded

What about Instagram’s IGTV has changed?

According to Elijah Harris, IGTV showed him long-form content from people he followed on Instagram, something he often didn’t want. But, that was just at the start. Now, the platform offers more opportunities for him and others to explore.

MediaRadar CEO, Todd Krizelman, also answered that “IGTV is testing a lot of paid advertising and a lot of top 40 hits right now. But, it still feels more like a professional and academic interest to me than one of leisure.”

2. YouTube still wins the popular vote

As a brand, where do you go first and why – YouTube or IGTV?

The majority of panelists agreed that brands should start off with YouTube rather than Instagram’s IGTV for various reasons. To back their claims, the speakers listed the following benefits of YouTube: “cheaper,” “long-form content like podcasts perform better on YouTube,” and it’s “better for sharing.”

Yet, Elizabeth Richter, iProspect’s Head of U.S. Social Media, disagreed. She aptly argued that “if a brand is struggling with their messaging, then, Instagram’s IGTV is best for them because they can then experiment with different brand messages and see how their consumers respond.”

3. The future states of Instagram’s IGTV and YouTube

What do Instagram’s IGTV and YouTube need?

For Instagram’s IGTV, Elijah Harris of Reprise Digital says, “Depends what it wants to be. If it wants to be YouTube, it needs meta tags and better discoverability. If it wants to be Snapchat, it needs curated content and MCN (multi-channel network) participation.”

Mallin, Managing Partner at Wavemaker North America, added that “It also needs breakout content … Even Vine, which I’m still mourning, there was amazing content there.”

Now, for YouTube, Mallin argues that “It needs to get more mobile. It’s still stuck in its desktop roots.”