ABC Audio is further expanding its podcast catalog with the launch of a trio of true crime podcast brands, the first in the genre from the broadcaster. ABC says the new content strategy establishes ABC Audio as a destination for not only news, but also true crime.
“ABC Audio has a proven track record of creating gripping and award-winning true crime podcasts, and we’re excited to build on that success in partnership with ‘20/20’ to give listeners more of what they want,” said Liz Alesse, VP of ABC Audio.
The offerings include new 20/20: The After Show podcast hosted by “20/20” co-anchor Deborah Roberts. The companion podcast to the newsmagazine “20/20” will allow listeners to hear the story behind each week’s episode, along with exclusive bonus material not available elsewhere.
ABC Audio has also greenlit a rotating narrative series that will provide context and analysis into both real-time true crime headlines and cases mined from ABC News’ archive. The first is Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy, hosted by ABC News legal contributor and attorney Brian Buckmire. It is the first in the ongoing series of “20/20” podcasts. The show kicks off March 25 and will trace how whispers of abuse came to light and led to the stunning federal charges and civil lawsuits that Diddy now faces. After its initial run ends, the series will pick up with twice-weekly episodes during the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs with real-time updates.
Then later this spring, ABC Audio will release the second narrative podcast, “What Happened to Holly Bobo?” hosted by Eva Pilgrim, co-anchor of “GMA3.” The podcast dives deeper into the case of Holly Bobo, as reported by “20/20.” Bobo went missing in 2011 and sparked the largest murder investigation in Tennessee history after the young nursing student was kidnapped from her home.
ABC Audio is launching the brand-new “20/20 True Crime” channel on Apple Podcasts, where listeners can discover the brand’s current and past true crime content.
“By expanding the established ‘20/20’ audio brand, introducing new true crime titles, and launching the true crime channel, we’re doubling down on our mission to inform and entertain audiences with the best content backed by the legacy of ABC News,” said Laura Mayer, Executive Producer of ABC Audio. “Fans can now consume ABC News true crime content every day of the week, moving seamlessly between platforms.”
Beyond the 20/20 brand, ABC Audio is also debuting the new series called The Crime Scene Weekly on March 20. It is hosted Brad Mielke, who also hosts the daily news podcast Start Here, which along with the 20/20 podcast are the top-performing podcasts for the Walt Disney Company. Podcast News Daily caught up with Mielke to talk about his expansion beyond news into true crime—
Podcast News Daily: The Crime Scene Weekly show is obviously a weekly show, but what else can you tell us about it?
Brad Mielke: ABC has all this like incredible access to the true crime universe, between ‘20/20’ and our longform narrative podcasts, we have these incredible stories at our fingertips, and yet there's still more out there that we don't get to touch for weeks or sometimes months at a time. But there's a new development every other day in the true crime space with the stories that people are very invested in. So the idea here is, every week, we'll be able to drive around the block very quickly of all the biggest crime stories. And for me, I'm used to talking about breaking news all day on Start Here, this is kind of a chance to dive into stories that are endlessly fascinating and constantly developing in ways that you don't really expect.
Podcast News Daily: How long will episodes be?
Brad Mielke: Between half an hour and an hour is the plan. We're going cover one big story from an ABC News journalist, often our correspondents and producers that have been working on these stories for months, sometimes years. That will comprise a majority of the episode. But then we'll also go over some of the development in other cases that you might be familiar with, or late-breaking developments.
Podcast News Daily: Why is ABC Audio moving into true crime now? Did a particular case spark the show launch?
Brad Mielke: We do a lot of very highly-produced content, like shows that take four months to put together an incredible documentary. But the format that we haven't tried before is one that catches up once a week and chats about the cases that are just so fascinating that so many people talk about them like the way we talk about them in the elevator at ABC.
Podcast News Daily: Are you a true crime buff?
Brad Mielke: I am used to doing breaking news all day, but I have always been interested in true crime. I've been a bit of a tourist, and yet I think that's going to be my superpower here. I finally get to dive into this world and hopefully ask some of the questions that listeners are actually going to be interested in. We won't be taking anything for granted. We'll be able to catch listeners up on a story that they might not know that well. There's also going to be hardcore true crime buffs who will want to know what’s new this week, and that's where our correspondents will be able to take us to that next layer.
Podcast News Daily: And you will also be able to cross-promote the series on Start Here.
Brad Mielke: It's exciting to me because the nature of daily news is so fleeting. It's so ephemeral. We take pride in circling stories we found interesting and try to get to why they matter the wider context. But a lot of those stories, they go away. We have to cover the next thing. Here, we're actually able to take a breath and ask why has this story captivated our attention for so long? Why does this never get solved? It exercises a muscle, not just for me, but I for the entire ABC podcasting unit.
Podcast News Daily: How are you juggling the production of two separate podcasts?
Brad Mielke: The challenge for our team is narrowing down the vast array of stories in this ecosystem, what we want to focus on. Suzie Lu, our lead producer on this, has been like digging through case files and then figuring out what ABC is working on, figuring out what court proceedings are coming up next, and then I get the easy job of getting to read up on cases, interview the correspondent with the questions I have about it, and then it gets turned into something that I think is super listenable and interesting.
Podcast News Daily: What sort of cases will you focus on?
Brad Mielke: Our premiere episode is going to be about the Tupac Shakur murder. ABC got exclusive access and are the only national broadcast network to get the only guy who's ever been charged on camera. He talked to our chief investigative reporter, Josh Margolin. It's that kind of access that is our sweet spot. We have the chance to talk about the cases that you are interested in, but we have this unique access to the stories themselves. Our team is the one actually uncovering things. I think that is the special sauce that we're going to have here.
Podcast News Daily: It also seems like the there is a lot more true crime content slipping into general news coverage?
Brad Mielke: That's right, and I think so often we don’t always recognize it as it's happening, but true crime stories actually tap into some of the social and political law-and-order civic stories and themes that are constantly coming across in the news. These true crime stories are not just the story of a missing woman. Often, it's a story about how law enforcement works for us. It's not just a story about a kidnapping or a savage murder. It's often about the backstory of the societal issues that laid the groundwork for why somebody was able to get away with something for so long. Over the last several years, we've also gotten better at telling stories of marginalized communities that have unfortunately been the crime scenes in too many moments in American life. Exploring those crime stories that seem so specific actually help us get these larger truths about the U.S. And I think whether we know it or not, that is why we are fascinated by this in general—and that's why there's actually more of a crossover.
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