NBC News says its hit Dateline NBC podcast series delivered its second consecutive record quarter with more than 100 million downloads during Q2. That has brought the series past one billion lifetime downloads, with a count that keeps growing as it continues to rank as the No. 1 true crime podcast.
Those numbers are sure to continue growing as Keith Morrison – who not only has one of the signature voices in television news, but also has become a fan favorite in podcasting too – returns to the podcast mic. The Dateline franchise will launch a new series titled Murder in Apartment 12 next Tuesday, Sept. 26, voiced by Morrison. “Our latest podcast takes us to a small town, where murder is rare, and intense media coverage is unheard of,” Morrison says on the show’s preview.
The six-episode series examines the case of Arkansas beauty queen Nona Dirksmeyer, who was found murdered in her apartment days before her 20th birthday. Featuring new exclusive interviews with insiders connected to the case, Morrison tells the story of three trials, two suspects, and one small town where things are not always what they seem. “Most of all, this is the story about how decisions made long ago on a frigid night in apartment 12 nearly put an innocent man in prison for life and allowed a predator to roam free,” Morrison says.
Murder in Apartment 12 marks Morrison’s eighth original Dateline podcast. He previously hosted the chart-topping series The Girl in the Blue Mustang, Murder & Magnolias, The Seduction, The Thing about Pam, The Thing About Helen & Olga, Mommy Doomsday and Killer Role – most of which hit No. 1 on Apple’s podcast chart.
As it has seen downloads climb, NBC is also looking to grow its paid listener numbers by shaking up how the Murder in Apartment 12 episodes will be released. Subscribers to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts can listen to the first two episodes now and will receive subsequent episodes early. For people opting to listen to the series for free, NBC says the first two episodes will drop on launch date, with the remaining four episodes debuting over the following two weeks.
The new podcast series will also serve as a promotional vehicle for the long-running television series, coming ahead of the premiere of the 32nd season of “Dateline” on Friday, September 29.