X

Hit podcast Serial to be broadcast on BBC radio

Radio 4 Extra will air the episodic true-crime podcast, which follows one journalist's investigation into the 1999 murder of a high-school student.

luke-westaway-edit.jpg
luke-westaway-edit.jpg
Luke Westaway Senior editor
Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
See full bio
Luke Westaway
2 min read

serial-people-map-1.jpg
Serial charts an investigation into the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee. Screenshot by Luke Westaway/CNET

US Podcast sensation "Serial" is on course to reach a new audience, as the hit audio series has been snapped up for broadcast on British radio.

Serial charts reporter Sarah Koenig's investigation into the murder of high-school student Hae Min Lee, who was killed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1999. Released as weekly episodes, Koenig delves steadily deeper into the crime, interviewing Lee's circle of friends, key witnesses and Adnan Syed, an ex-boyfriend who was sentenced to life in prison having been convicted of Lee's murder.

The engaging, unfolding drama has proved extremely popular, and in November became the fastest podcast ever to reach five million downloads and streams on Apple's iTunes, The Guardian reports.

Now the BBC has confirmed it will be giving Serial its first radio airing -- on BBC Radio 4 Extra, with the first episode of the investigative podcast scheduled to be broadcast at 9pm on Sunday 7 December. Successive episodes will then be aired daily until the radio catches up with the podcast, of which 10 episodes have already been published. It will then switch to being broadcast on the same day the podcast comes out.

Serial's editorial advisor Ira Glass is quoted as saying, "We know we already have tons of Serial listeners in the UK but we love that the BBC will help us reach many many more than we ever could with podcast alone".

Serial recently confirmed it would be back for a second season, having raised cash through a mixture of sponsorship and donations.