True crime, one of the most popular podcast genres, has proven successful as a weekend program on iHeartMedia talk KFI Los Angeles (640). Unsolved, hosted by KFI reporter Steve Gregory, enters its second year in Saturday nights (8-10pm) on April 2.
The program, which tells stories of Los Angeles-area cold cases, was birthed from a segment Gregory did on KFI’s midday show.
“I had done a segment on the Gary and Shannon Show, and listeners responded very positively,” Gregory told the Los Angeles Daily News. “[KFI PD] Robin Bertolucci liked it as well, and when I passed her in the hallway, I joked about doing a weekly show. She stopped and thought about it… we talked over the next few weeks… and eventually, it happened.”
The program also details challenging cases, where Gregory provides behind the scenes looks at cases that were hard to solve.
Due to his already busy schedule at the station, only ten original episodes of Unsolved aired in the first year. A recap of the episodes was recorded in front of a live audience and broadcast as an additional show.
“There are more than 10,000 unsolved homicides in Southern California,” Gregory said. “At first, some of the agencies were reluctant to talk openly about many of the cases; now they contact me regarding cases they want to expose more.”