ESPN's ''30 for 30'' Podcasts to Debut in June

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, March 13, 2017

ESPN Films and ESPN Audio's new collaboration, "30 for 30 Podcasts," will launch in June, 2017, the company announced at a SXSW panel in Austin. The series will tell original, sports stories in the likeness of the acclaimed "30 for 30 documentaries," but made exclusively for audio. Each "30 for 30" Podcast episode will explore and report on a new sports story that will be a combination of original interviews and archival sound.

Two of the topics that will be featured in the first season of 30 for 30 Podcasts will be: "Dan and Dave Revisited," the true story of the massive 1990's marketing campaign around the world's two best decathletes, and "On the Ice," the story of how a group of amateur Brits became the first all-women's team to make it to the North Pole." Both are working titles.

"ESPN Films is continuing to push boundaries in the storytelling space, and we're excited to further evolve the 30 for 30 brand," said ESPN Films and Original Content VP/Executive Producer Libby Geist. "These audio documentaries will break new ground for ESPN while also bringing our signature long-form archival-based approach to the podcasting arena."

The group also announced that the signature 30 for 30 theme music is being re-worked for "30 for 30 Podcasts" by Hrishikesh Hirway, musician, composer and host of the "Song Exploder" podcast. The inaugural season's episodes will be produced and hosted by Jody Avirgan (also of ESPN's "FiveThirtyEight") and a team of in-house producers, with future episodes to be done in collaboration with outside reporters, documentarians, and ESPN talent.