Serial (podcast) Case study

The impact of new digital media

Serial

Serial is a podcast exploring a suspenseful story over multiple episodes, as long as it takes to tell the story. First released on 3rd October 2014, it is a spinoff of the radio program, This American Life. Episodes of variable length are available weekly. Even before its debut, it ranked number one on iTunes, and remained there for several weeks.

Sarah Koenig created and hosts the series, which is co-produced by Koenig and Julie Snyder, both long running producers of This American Life.

Content

The topic of season one is an investigation into a 1999 Baltimore murder of Hae Min Lee, but succeeding seasons may not be in the true-crime drama genre.

Koenig has said, Serial is "about the basics: love and death and justice and truth. All these big, big things." She also has noted, "this is not an original idea. Maybe in podcast form it is, and trying to do it as a documentary story is really, really hard. But trying to do it as a serial, this is as old as Dickens."

Production

The concept for Serial originated with an experiment in Koenig's basement. Koenig and Snyder had pitched a different idea at a staff meeting, for a weekly program on events during the previous seven days, which staff members received without enthusiasm. Ira Glass (producer of This American Life) asked Koenig if she had any other ideas, and she mentioned podcasting a story that unfolded over time, a serialized narrative. In an interview with Mother Jones, she explained that each episode would return to the same story, telling the next chapter of a long, true narrative.

Episode one of the series was released on 3rd October, 2014, with additional episodes to be released weekly online. Ira Glass introduced it as a spin-off of his popular radio program, This American Life, and aired episode one on his show.

Glass explained, "We want to give you the same experience you get from a great HBO or Netflix series, where you get caught up with the characters and the thing unfolds week after week, but with a true story, and no pictures. Like House of Cards, but you can enjoy it while you're driving."

podcast renaissance

The reviewer from Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab observed that even though podcasts are not new, they are not yet mainstream. How to monetize the podcast is another issue, with Serial's launch sponsored by MailChimp, a frequent podcast advertiser, and salaried staff positions funded by WBEZ. Admitting the show is funded from This American Life's budget during the launch, producer Koenig noted that Serial will eventually need to generate its own funding. She said, "Everyone's saying 'It's podcasting! It's internet! Of course there'll be money somewhere.' We're not exactly sure yet." Dana Chivvis, another producer, observed the industry is in a Wild West mode, considering how to organize a podcasting business model.

Koening has since made fundraising appeals.

Critical reception

The New Yorker, "Combining the drama of prestige-television-style episodic storytelling, the portability of podcasts, and the reliability of This American Life , the show has been, perhaps not surprisingly, ranked at No. 1 on iTunes for much of the past couple of weeks. It held that position even before it débuted." The Guardian characterized it as a "new genre of audio storytelling."

Critical reception

Calling the characters "rich and intriguing," The Daily Californian described the podcast as "gripping," the story as "thrilling," and applauded the series for giving "listeners a unique opportunity to humanize the players." Slate's reviewer pointed out that Serial is not escapist, and went on to note, "Someone in the show is not telling the truth about something very sinister. That's the narrative tension that makes Serial not only compelling but also unlike anything I can remember watching or reading before."

Critical reception

The Baltimore Sun : "we seemingly never tire of the everything was perfect until... narrative" "a novel twist on the investigative long-form piece."“Serial,” by producers of “This American Life,” is the most popular podcast in the history of the form, averaging over 1.5 million listeners an episode, the New York Times reports.By the ninth episode, according to Wall Street Journal, iTunes was reporting Serial to be "the fastest [podcast] to reach 5 million downloads and streams in iTunes history". Wall Street Journal "Serial is the top podcast in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia, and in the top 10 in Germany, South Africa and India."

Impact of digital media

PopMatters observed that podcasting is a new distribution model, very different from television as a distribution model, because it gives users access to media, and freedom to listen to episodes of a long-form story while doing other things. The reviewer applauded the focus on long-form journalism, and added, "Suddenly you feel like the full promise of podcasting has just been unleashed. That long-form narrative nonfiction is really the way to best leverage the potential of podcasting as a distribution model."

Impact of digital media

A Wall Street Journal critic observed, "podcasts have slipped marketers’ minds.ZenithOptimedia, for example, put out a forecast predicting 0% growth for the medium after years of positive momentum," and went on to note that podcast advertising company Podtrac reports one million unique listeners for each Serial podcast.Discussing the economics of podcast advertising, New York Magazine noted that the personal nature of the podcast format allows higher advertising rates: "CPM (the cost to an advertiser per thousand impressions, a standard ad-industry unit) was between $20 and $45. Compare that to a typical radio CPM (roughly $1 to $18) or network TV ($5 to $20) or even a regular old web ad ($1 to $20), and the podcast wins."

Wider cultural impact

Several reports have commented on the addictive nature of Serial. Reddit hosts a Serial subreddit site, including discussions, transcripts, a link library, and podcasts about each Serial episode. Slate is also reported to be "following the story closely" and presents a podcast discussion of Serial every week following the latest release.

Wider cultural impact

Parodies of Serial have targeted the style of the show, Koenig's curiosity, Koenig's meandering style and uncertainties, and the podcast's sponsor MailChimp (especially the meme "MailKimp").

Synergy

This American Life, a long running radio show.

Mail ChimpNicholas Thorburn released the soundtrack for Serial on 17th October, 2014. It includes fifteen tracks, all short instrumentals, and is available at the Bandcamp site or streamed from several reviewing sites.