Listen Without Limits: True Crime, Audio Drama, and BBC Sounds Podcasts

McMurtry, Leslie

Abstract

Podcasting is dominated by “niche” genres, like chatcasts/chumcasts and true crime, that sometimes obscure the more varied potential offerings of the form. In 2018, the United Kingdom’s BBC launched a new streaming platform, BBC Sounds, a revamp of catch-up service BBC iPlayer and a new way for listeners to engage with BBC content. Using BBC Sounds commissioning documents and five case studies, this chapter interrogates the form and content offered by Sounds to its audience, primarily envisioned to be young listeners between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, seeking a personalized experience and “effortless stimulation.” By close examination of one true crime podcast, one docudrama, and three dramas, this chapter suggests that the BBC is building on decades of know-how to produce compelling audio—though at a potential cost of alienating its traditional listeners and losing the space to produce and promote sound art not defined by commercial forces.

• Online Publication Date: Jun 20, 2024
• Publication Date: Oct 22, 2024
• Deposit Date: Mar 19, 2024
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Pages: 180-196
• Book Title: The Oxford Handbook of Radio and Podcasting
• Chapter Number: 10
• ISBN: 9780197551127
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197551127.013.10
• Contract Date: Mar 4, 2024