Czech Underworld
In 2021, Czech Underworld followed up the highly successful first series with a sequel featuring nine new episodes and a bonus feature that invites listeners behind the scenes of the project’s creation. From the cases of the 1990s, which had a dramatic anchor in the book Zločin, jak ho pamatuju (Crime as I Remember It), we move on to the biggest and hidden cases of the new millennium.
In the second series, we again rely on the proven duo of investigative journalist Josef Klíma and narrator-journalist padawan Adam Miklica, working with archival sounds and a rich sound design. The Seznam Zprávy audio team led by Hana Němečková collaborated with Storylab Audio and producer and director Damian Machaj. The challenge of the second series was to create original themes and scripts, because we could no longer base them on a book.
The series covers the escape and capture of Tomáš Pitr, the Plzeň law case, Ivo Rittig and the intervention at the Czech Government Office and his strange legacy. The second series is accompanied by a more balanced narrative performance by the talented young podcaster Adam Miklica and denser work with original sound design and music. All of this combines to create a true crime podcast with a modern sound and a strong content foundation (and the editorial backing of a large staff) that has racked up 1.9 million digital listens on third-party apps and Seznam services. Together, the two series have already had 3.5 million digital listens.
Basic Information
Czech Underworld is a true crime podcast series that is the most listened to podcast from Seznam Zprávy so far. The presenter duo consists of Josef Klíma, an experienced investigative journalist, and Adam Miklica, a young youtuber with an interest in the underworld and crime.
The first ten-part series, launched in the summer of 2020, focused on the 1990s and the most famous cases that Klíma described in his book Crime as I Remember It. The second series, produced in the summer of 2021, focuses on the period after 2000, when the underworld began to intertwine with political and business interests on a larger scale.
Seznam Zprávy collaborates with the podcast company Storylab Audio on the Czech Underworld podcast. When preparing the podcast, the creative team emphasized new, original approaches to storytelling, working with archival sounds and original music - the goal was to bring the true crime genre in the Czech Republic to a level comparable to international narrative formats and to refresh Czech productions with a more narrative and truly storytelling approach.
The proof that it has succeeded is in the record listenership and warm fan response - the podcast has received 1,185 ratings on Apple Podcasts with an average of 4.8. It has 1,100 ratings on Spotify with an average of 5.0.
Listen the document at Prix Bohemia Radio festival!
When: Thursday 13th October 2022 | 12:25 – 12:45 | listening session
Where: Film hall, Arts Centre UP
Entrance: Free admission with accreditation
Look at the detailed program of the listening session.
All podcasts are available here.
BASIC INFORMATION
Competition category: Podcast
Title: Czech Underworld
Original title: České podsvětí
Author: Hana Němečková
Production: Seznam Zprávy
