On air since 1988, reaching 36 seasons with no signs of slowing down, “48 Hours” stands as one of the most popular true crime TV shows. With true crime remaining one of the most popular genres among podcast listeners, creating a podcast feed for “48 Hours” offered an opportunity to reach a new audience of people who are looking to consume their entertainment and news on-the-go instead of seated in front of the television. In return, creating the podcast version of the show was an opportunity to bring new viewers to the TV version, who may have first learned about the show via the podcast feed. As the subscriber count for the show continues to grow, the feed is now being used as a launch pad for new series from the “48 Hours” team of correspondents.
The storytelling style of the TV show easily lends itself to the audio format, with the narration written in a way that allows listeners to visualize the story. The TV show has had such long-running success due to its journalistic integrity. In a podcasting landscape overrun with armchair sleuths, listeners can come to the “48 Hours” podcast feed and feel confident that they are getting facts and objectivity. The podcast brings attention to classic episodes of the TV show by revisiting those episodes every Thursday.
“48 Hours” has reached the top 5 on the Apple Podcasts True Crime chart and the top 5 of True Crime podcasts on Podtrac. Year-over-year, the show saw a 103 percent improvement in monthly average downloads and a 70 percent increase in annual series downloads. It was honored with a 2023 DotComm Awards (Gold win in the True Crime category) and an 18th W3 Awards (Silver win in the Crime & Mystery category). In 2023, the show feed was used to successfully launch three new acclimated series: “Post Mortem,” “Married to Death,” and “Inside the Lori Vallow Daybell Trial.”
