Open TV: innovation beyond Hollywood and the rise of web television

Before HBO's hit show 'Insecure,' Issa Rae's comedy about being a nerdy black woman debuted as a YouTube web series 'The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl,' her response to the absence of diverse black characters on the small screen. 'Broad City,' a feminist sitcom now on Comedy Central, originated as a web series on YouTube, developed directly out of funny women Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson's real-life friendship.

These unconventional stories took advantage of the freedom afforded outside the traditional television system: online. 'Open TV' shows how we have left 'the network era' far behind and entered the networked era, with the web opening up new possibilities for independent producers, entrepreneurs, and media audiences.