A Sampling of Web Television History

By silentfaun

  • "The Spot" Premiers

    The first interactive, epsidodic web show, “The Spot” premiers. Created by Scott Zakarin, the show is a transmedia experience based on the “Melrose Place” TV show. Explore Further.
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    A Sampling of Web Television History

    Created by Margaret S. E. Smith with TimeToast. 2015. References for data found within each data bubble under: Explore Further.

  • "Behind the Music That Sucks"

    Premeir of Behind the Music that Sucks. Animated web miniseries parody of MTV's “Behind the Music”. It's popularity saw it crossover from the Internet to traditional television. Explore Further.

  • "WhirlGirl" leaps into the fray.

    The animated science fiction web series makes its first appearance on Showtime's website (SHO.com). Animated in Flash, it was the first web show to be produced independently while being liscensed by a major national television network. The character was so popular she made many appearances on various television channels. Explore Further.

  • BMW's "The Hire" speeds onto the scene.

    The groundbreaking BMW branding campaign, “The Hire” begins. Made up of 8 short films starring Clive Owen as the “Driver” with each piece boasting such luminaries as John Frankenheimer and Ang Lee directing differing plots, the series drew a huge audience to the BMW website and premiered at Cannes to rave reviews. Explore Further.

  • The Lonely Island trio produces success.

    The Lonely Island comedy group independently produces a pilot for a television show named after the group and distribute it through their own website and other online locations. One of the first groups to take advantage of being able to post their own material to the web, their work earns them industry attention and leads to several jobs and eventual work for Saturday Night Live. Explore Further.

  • Red vs Blue battles for attention.

    The comedy science fiction episodic web series, Red vs Blue, premiers. A parody on first person shooter games, the military, and science fiction films, it is the longest running episodic web series of all time and has been released on DVD. Explore Further.

  • Grouper launces then Crackles.

    The small video sharing website called Grouper launches. Despite many innovations, Grouper is unable to keep pace with the growing Titan that is YouTube once it gets started. The company is sold to Sony and rebranded as Crackle TV, distributing original web shows, traditional TV series, and various movies. Explore Further.

  • YouTube's first video!

    The first video is uploaded to a then-private video sharing website called YouTube. The site would go into Beta the following month and then open to the public six months later. The video, called “Me at the Zoo”, was posted by Jawed Karim (user named “Jawed”), the site's cofounder, and was an 18 second clip of him with the San Diego Zoo elephants. Explore Further.

  • The Viral Video is born!

    YouTube's first viral video comes in the form of a Saturday Night Live digital short written and performed by The Loney Island's Andy Samberg and SNL's Chris Parnell. Bootleg copies put up on the fledgling video sharing site of the performance, brought in over five-million views before the video was removed due to copyright issues in February of 2006. It, and subsequently YouTube itself, was planted firmly in the public's awareness. <a href='http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/753

  • "Lonelygirl 15" : The YouTube Vlog that Wasn't.

    This series took advantage of the growing YouTube trend of video blogging and ever expanding interactive and user generated content. It took the form of a series of “Vlogs” of a supposed teen girl named Bree. Believing her to be an actual vlogger, the character, and the videos, became immensely popular. It was outed as fiction in September, 2006. Explore Further.

  • Who is this Bud for? bud.tv debuts.

    Anheuser-Busch debuts bud.tv, an online entertainment network, and is the first comsumer product company to do so. Innovative, but expensive, it failed to attract the number of visitors that was expected and eventually shut down in February 2009. A frustrating registration process and lack of proper demographic content are just some of the issues named as having contributed to its demise. Explore Further.

  • It's "The Guild"!

    A web television show based on a group of online gamers called, "The Guild", premiers on YouTube and hits big by utilizing the power of social media to build a solid viewership. Its creator, actress Felicia Day, wrote, produced, and starred in the highly successful web series. It ran for six seasons and became available on DVD and through streaming sites such as Hulu and Netflix. Explore Further.

  • Hello Hulu.

    Hulu goes live. It functions as an online video and web syndication service. The service grows to include not only movies and many network traditional television shows, but original content as well. On October 21, 2009 the company announced its HuluPlus monthly subscription model, and begins increasing its original content. Explore Further.

  • Dr. Horrible is Wonderful.

    Director Joss Whedon's web series “Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog”, starring Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Nathon Fillion, premiers. The hugely popular, quirky musical receives Streamy, Hugo, People's Choice, and Primetime Emmy awards, lending increased respectability to the world of web television. Explore Further.

  • The International Academy of Web Television forms.

    The Internation Academy of Web Television, a non-profit organization devoted to advancing and supporting the craft of digital entertainment and web television and those who create original content, is formed. The first awards from the organization – The Streamys – soon become an annual event to honor excellence in online video. Explore Further.

  • Google TV launches.

    The Smart TV platform created by the internet company, Google, was meant to integrate TV with interactive web features in a way that Apple TV, Roku, TiVo, and Microsoft had yet to successfully do, by bringing together live TV and complete access to the web at the same time. It was succeeded in June 2014 by Android TV. Explore Further.

  • YouTube Experiments with Original Channel Initiative.

    YouTube announces the launch of its Original Channel Initiative. The program, funded by Google, was a way of bringing higher quality original content to the site. Millions of dollars were spent to support the creation of content from traditional media stars. By November of 2013, the initiative quietly disappeared along with most of the channels, but several found success and are still going strong. Explore Further.

  • Netflix adds original programming.

    Netflix streaming video rental service premiers its first original program, “Lilyhammer” followed a year later by the wildly successful “House of Cards”, which goes on to win a plethora of highly respected awards. Original content creation is now a regular part of the Netflix offerings. Explore Further.

  • Geek is the new chic! Geek & Sundry channel finds success.

    The commercial YouTube channel “Geek & Sundry” is launched by actress and “The Guild” creator, Felicia Day as part of the YouTube Original Channel Initiative. The channel (which is also a multimedia production company) begins building a lineup of successful original content shows such as “TableTop” with Wil Wheaton. Many of the performers from the various shows become favorites at fan conventions. Explore Further.

  • Everything old is new again. "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries" premiers.

    The groundbreaking Transmedia web series, “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries,” begins its run on YouTube. This multiplatform adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is presented in a series of personal “vlogs”. It become immensely popular and was the first web series to win an Emmy in the creative arts category for Orignal Interactive Program. It prompts various spin-offs. Explore Further.

  • Amazon joins the original content bandwagon.

    Amazon releases 18 original pilots streamed through their video streaming feature. But unlike Netflix's model, Amazon's original content is created by inexpenesively producing a variety of pilots and then letting viewers rate the shows, determining which receive funding. Explore Further.

  • Vimeo goes "High Maintenance"

    A web series on the video sharing site, Vimeo, went viral in 2013, prompting the low-key video sharing site to commission a series for the show to release under a pay-to-stream model. The show, “High Maintenance” would go on the next year to be acquired by HBO, giving the company its first streamming product. Explore Further.

  • "Transparent" makes history with Golden Globe win.

    Amazon makes history by becoming the first online video streaming service to win a Golden Globe award for Best Series with their orignal show, “Transparent,” taking home the Best TV Comedy statue. Jeffrey Tambor, the star of the show, also won for Best Actor. Original web television content has irrefutably come into its own. Explore Further.

  • Always on with Crackle TV.

    Crackle announces plans to offer the new feature, “Always On” – an internet television channel that will be linear and ad-supported. The idea is to “re-imagine ad-supported tv” for the internet. It also announced a variety of new original programming, including its first one hour scripted series "The Art of More," would be premiering. Explore Further.