What could make this concept really take off, IMHO, is if a big established player jumped on board (kind of like what Radiohead did with In Rainbows and the whole "online first/donationware" thing).
For example, if David Chase or David Simon decided to produce a series of 10 episodes and make it available online exclusively at first (either via torrents & donations, or paid iTunes/Amazon/etc downloads), and if if it was a success, that would make others pay attention.
For example, if David Chase or David Simon decided to produce a series of 10 episodes and make it available online exclusively at first (either via torrents & donations, or paid iTunes/Amazon/etc downloads), and if if it was a success, that would make others pay attention.