The Boston Globe's Spotlight: Snitch City

Objective

The Podglomerate is the industry-leading podcast services company recently recognized as the “Best Podcast Marketing & Production Agency” by PR Daily. We specialize in comprehensive podcast growth strategies and have a proven track record with major media outlets and publishers including NPR, PBS, Netflix, and AFAR.

In 2025, The Podglomerate supported the launch of The Boston Globe’s new investigative journalism podcast Spotlight: Snitch City with a multi-channel marketing strategy that included press outreach, podcast app features, paid acquisition, optimizing digital media, cross-promotional swaps, and award submissions.

The Podglomerate’s goals were to:

Implement targeted podcast audience growth strategies
Establish a dedicated podcast RSS feed for the Spotlight investigative series that can support future seasons and YouTube video podcast growth
Attract steady listenership to encourage sustainable podcast revenue streams

01CHALLENGE
02SOLUTION
03PROCESS
04RESULTS

Show Summary

Spotlight: Snitch City is an investigative series from The Boston Globe, created by the same award-winning podcast production team behind the critically-acclaimed HBO true crime podcast Murder in Boston. Acclaimed reporter and host Dugan Arnett takes listeners deep inside the New Bedford police department, uncovering case-after-case of police misconduct, lies, and deception related to their use of police informants. Spotlight: Snitch City is the story of a deeply flawed system, the flawed individuals working within it, and the travesties that can occur when no one’s watching.

THE CHALLENGE

Despite featuring premium investigative journalism and highly relevant subject matter, Spotlight: Snitch City presented unique podcast marketing challenges:

The Boston Globe was launching the series in a brand new podcast RSS feed, requiring a ground-up audience-building effort and podcast growth strategy.
The Boston Globe needed specialized podcast launch strategies to optimize its existing subscriber base across social media, newsletters, webpages, and beyond.
The Boston Globe also sought a YouTube strategy for Spotlight: Snitch City, as it was their first standalone narrative series to launch on the platform.
Since the podcast series was based on an ongoing investigation, The Podglomerate needed to remain agile in coordinating promotional opportunities ahead of and through launch, while regarding the show’s materials and audio with increased sensitivity.

“Spotlight: Snitch City demonstrates the power of a comprehensive, multi-channel marketing approach. By combining strategic press outreach, earned podcast app features, cross-promotional partnerships, and optimization of The Boston Globe’s own media assets, we helped transform a new RSS feed into an award-winning series with over 1 million downloads and nearly 30,000 followers.”

Joni Deutsch, SVP of Marketing & Audience Development at The Podglomerate

THE SOLUTION

The Podglomerate crafted a comprehensive marketing strategy to maximize exposure for Spotlight: Snitch City, which included:

Publicity: Targeted media outreach to criminal justice, investigative, and regional news outlets.
Marketing: Strategic recommendations to leverage The Boston Globe’s owned media channels (newsletter, social media, website, app, etc.) to promote the podcast.
Cross-Promotion: Leveraging relationships with top investigative and true crime podcasts for audience sharing.
Podcast App Features: Securing prominent placements across Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and others.
Award Submissions: Positioning Spotlight: Snitch City for prestigious podcast awards to solidify its reputation and reach.
Paid Acquisition: Booking in-app advertisements on podcast platforms with highly engaged users, in addition to paid audio promotions on top true crime podcasts.
Data Management: Monitoring and assessing the series’ audience development and engagement.

Keep reading to discover how we achieved incredible results for The Boston Globe in each of these key podcast marketing and growth areas.

What was the most impactful part of The Podglomerate’s marketing approach for Spotlight: Snitch City?

“The results prove that when you pair premium investigative journalism with a targeted audience growth strategy, you can build sustainable listenership from the ground up—even in today’s competitive podcast landscape.”

Joni Deutsch, SVP of Marketing & Audience Development at The Podglomerate

THE Process

Many wonder what podcast marketing agencies do for their clients. The answer is a multi-faceted audience growth strategy that is tailored to a podcast’s objectives, audience demographic, show resources, and genre. Here’s how we supported Spotlight: Snitch City:

Publicity: Developed a press kit and strategically pitched Spotlight: Snitch City to key outlets, including investigative journalism, criminal justice, and true crime media as part of this podcast marketing strategy.
Marketing: Optimized The Boston Globe’s owned and social media channels—including their website, newsletters, social media, and app—to drive listenership and track attribution.
Cross-Promotion: Partnered with top publishers including Tortoise Media, CBC, Pushkin, New Hampshire Public Radio, and other networks to arrange high-impact feed drops and cross-promotional swaps.
Podcast App Features: Ensured broad distribution and secured high-visibility placements in major podcast directories, supporting the goal of podcast audience growth.
Award Submissions: Submitted Spotlight: Snitch City to industry awards, earning recognition from a top-tier competition.
Paid Acquisition: Arranged advertisements on highly-engaged podcast players and chart-topping true crime podcasts, resulting in low cost per acquisitions and strong device conversion rates for Spotlight: Snitch City.
Data Management: Monitored audience growth, engagement, retention, and demographics to help The Boston Globe understand the series’ impact and relationship to its listeners.

The Results

Achieved more than 1 million downloads / views to-date, demonstrating widespread audience engagement and proving the power of our strategic podcast growth methods.
Gained nearly 30k followers to-date on two of the most popular podcasting platforms, in addition to reaching 110k followers to-date on YouTube, conveying that Spotlight: Snitch City has a strong foundation for continued growth, especially for future series and/or seasons, on the RSS feed.
Received praise from The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Information, Semafor, Podcast Review, The New Yorker, The Week, and Crime Writers On.
Featured in more than 10 major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Castbox, and Pocket Casts.
Ranked #5 in Series, #6 in True Crime, and #28 overall on Apple Podcasts.
Named a Signal Award finalist for “Best True Crime Podcast.”

This podcast marketing case study exemplifies how a well-executed audience growth strategy can transform a new podcast into an award-winning, widely heard investigative series. Through targeted publicity, smart audience growth tactics, paid acquisition, and industry recognition, The Podglomerate helped elevate Spotlight: Snitch City to international podcast acclaim.

Want to learn how The Podglomerate can grow your podcast’s audience? Email us at [email protected].

The Boston Globe's Spotlight: Snitch City

Objective

01CHALLENGE

02SOLUTION

03PROCESS

04RESULTS

Show Summary

THE CHALLENGE

THE SOLUTION

What was the most impactful part of The Podglomerate’s marketing approach for Spotlight: Snitch City?

THE Process

The Results

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