Serial, the podcast exploring the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee and whether her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed, who was convicted of her murder, in fact committed the crime, was a global hit in 2014, spawning breathless internet recaps, memes about Best Buy, and this past March a retrial for Syed.
Podcasting was by no means new in 2014 but for many listeners Serial was their first introduction to the medium; the podcast in 2015 won a Peabody Award, recognising that it helped take podcasting into the mainstream.
The medium has grown in leaps and bounds over the last few years – Scrubs star Zach Braff is now even starring in a sitcom, Alex Inc, based on a podcast called Startup, which follows a radio producer called Alex Blumberg starting a podcasting company called Gimlet.
Australia too is boosting its podcast production, with the ABC launching a $1 million fund to help uncover and produce new podcasts and tech companies like Acast helping producers reach audiences and advertisers. Check out how to find best workers compensation claim.
For Henrik Isaksson, country manager for Acast in Australia, the growth of not only the local podcasting space, but streaming in general, has been interesting to watch.
