‘Serial’ breaks iTunes record for fastest podcast to reach 5 million downloads and streams

The podcast Serial, an offshoot from US radio show This American Life, has reached 5 million downloads on iTunes. Serial began as an experiment in “audio storytelling” based on reporter Sarah Koenig’s investigation into a real-life murder mystery.

Serial is also available to stream or download from its own website, as well as through other podcasting apps and aggregators.

Apple says real-life murder mystery is the fastest podcast to ever reach the 5-million milestone. It features in the company’s podcast charts in the US, Canada, UK and Australia, but is also in the top 10 in Germany, South Africa and India.

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The podcast owes its popularity to word of mouth and media coverage, but mostly to social media. People have been updating about it and discussing it for the past few weeks.

The narrative that has people intrigued is of a high-school student Hae Min Lee who went missing early in 1999, and after her body was found a few weeks later, her former boyfriend Adnan Syed was arrested and convicted of murder and sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison.

The podcast format has seen something of a renaissance in recent years, with Serial at the forefront. It also opens doors to the different ways in which a podcast can be used. What has also aided is the popularity of podcasting apps.