ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the evolution and contours of discourses surrounding ‘indie TV’ while also examining the forces driving a range of industrial stakeholders to shift their priorities from indie film to television during the 2000s and 2010s. Additionally it surveys the types of programs that became associated with indie TV in trade and critical discourses, assessing where, when, and to what extent the term gained traction. Through this discussion, it is possible to assess how ‘indie’ became used not only for the purposes of marketing and product differentiation but also as a means of establishing cultural distinctions between different types of television as well as between television and film as media forms. More generally, in tracing the evolution of discourses of ‘indie TV,’ the chapter also traces the evolving relationship between – and industrial status of – the film and television industries in the digital age.
