Live Radio

“True Crime Tonight” Will Air Five Nights a Week Live on Broadcast Radio and Will Also Be Available On Demand through iHeartPodcasts

NEW YORK – May 30, 2025 – iHeartMedia, the leading audio company in America and the No. 1 podcast publisher globally according to Podtrac, announced today the premiere of a new on air format “True Crime Tonight” in collaboration with KT Studios. “True Crime Tonight” will initially launch on more than 20 broadcast radio stations across the country Sunday through Thursday evenings live at 10 p.m. local time beginning June 1; and then be available on demand through iHeartPodcasts Monday through Friday on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are heard.  The two-hour show will be led by Stephanie Lydecker, founder and CEO of KT Studios; Courtney McKenna Armstrong, producer and voice of KT Studios’ top-charting podcasts; and Baudi Moovan, acclaimed crime analyst and star of Netflix’s “Don’t F*** with Cats” documentary.

Expanding on their existing partnership and slate of true-crime podcasts, iHeartMedia and KT Studios will co-produce the live broadcast radio show and podcast that will serve as a one-stop destination for all true crime audiences. “True Crime Tonight” will air live five nights a week and feature a mix of expert analysis, bold opinions, and listener call-ins.

"We're always exploring new formats for broadcast radio, and we're thrilled to introduce True Crime Tonight,” said Tom Poleman, Chief Programming Officer for iHeartMedia. “Stephanie Lydecker and KT Studios are leaders in true crime podcasting, and when Stephanie and I discussed creating a radio format, she was immediately on board. The show will feature live caller interactions and real-time updates, ensuring it remains incredibly engaging and up to date."

“The idea of connecting live with audiences who are as passionate about the genre as we are is beyond exciting,” said Stephanie Lydecker, founder and CEO of KT Studios. “Tom Poleman is a true visionary. I am proud to bring this show to life and continue to expand our partnership with the exceptional iHeart team.”

“Even as podcasting has exploded as the newest mass-reach medium in the United States, true crime has persisted as one of its most popular genres – and we wanted to bring that kind of storytelling to the world in a new way, with more interactivity and bigger audiences,” said Conal Byrne, CEO of iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group.  “There are few mediums that drive more conversation than podcasts, but one big challenge with the medium is that podcasts are not themselves interactive. Broadcast Radio - what we sometimes think of as the original social media - can add exactly this element, engaging people in the live conversation with a real-time, interactive component, taking the story to a new level.”

“True Crime Tonight” is part of iHeartMedia’s continued “Podcast, Meet Broadcast” initiative that utilizes the company’s unparalleled consumer reach to introduce the rapidly growing podcast sector to iHeartMedia’s quarter of a billion monthly broadcast listeners, while also innovating in the podcast space.

iHeartMedia continues to leverage its “Podcast, Meet Broadcast” initiative including the successful “Sunday Night Podcast Series” featuring the most popular and highly-anticipated podcasts from iHeartPodcasts including “Stuff You Should Know;” “Stuff You Missed In History Class;” “McCartney: A Life in Lyrics;” “Ridiculous Crime;” iHeart Woman’s Sports’ “Good Game with Sarah Spain” and “Naked Sports with Cari Champion;” and the Martin Luther King III Foundation and Legacy+ “My Legacy” podcast which shares transformative stories of beloved public figures and influential leaders.

About the Hosts

Stephanie Lydecker is the founder and CEO of KT Studios, a true crime powerhouse behind some of the most successful true crime podcasts, television series, and documentaries. At the helm of KT, Lydecker has created and executive produced iHeart’s #1 hit podcasts “The Piketon Massacre,” “Murder 101"- which is being adapted into a feature film for Amazon Studios - and the recently announced "The Idaho Student Murders” for NBC’s Peacock streamer, in connection with the podcast “The Idaho Massacre.”

Her credits also include record-breaking documentary series like “Murdered and Missing in Montana” (Peacock), “Injustice with Nancy Grace” (Oxygen), and “The Pike County Murders: A Family Massacre” (Peacock), which became the platform’s most-watched documentary at the time of release. With new documentaries slated for this year, she continues to redefine the true crime and unscripted landscape across all mediums.

Courtney McKenna Armstrong is a producer and true crime storyteller behind some of iHeart’s most successful podcasts, including the chart-topping “The Piketon Massacre," “The Idaho Massacre,” “Murder 101,” and “Death Island.” Known for crafting gripping narratives, she has developed and produced acclaimed series for Peacock, Oxygen, Bravo, and E!, such as “Murdered & Missing in Montana,” “Injustice with Nancy Grace,” and "Co-Dependent.”

Baudi Moovan is a true crime analyst who rose to global prominence in Netflix’s “Don't F**k with Cats,” where she helped lead the online hunt for killer Luka Magnotta. Known for her sharp investigative skills and digital detective work, she went on to host “Re(Solved)” on Vice and co-host iHeart’s “True Crimes with John and Deanna.” In 2024, she expanded her media presence as a contestant on Netflix’s “The Mole" and continues to share true crime insights with a growing audience across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.

iHeartRadio’s Powerful New Artificial Intelligence Integration Leverages the Best of Live Radio Listening Experience to Provide Seamless Song Transitions and Gapless Music Playback for the First Time Ever on a Digital Music Service

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES – AUGUST 2, 2018 – iHeartMedia, the leading audio company in America which also has a greater reach in the U.S. than any other media outlet, and Super Hi-Fi, a sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) platform that delivers innovative audio solutions, announced today the launch of an industry-first technology that provides an optimized digital music listening experience unlike any other. The new AI capabilities will allow iHeartRadio to revolutionize its digital music service by creating a listening experience that mimics the polished production of live radio.

The new integration brings the best of live broadcast radio to digital streaming music by delivering flawless song transitions, including precise crossfades, volume leveling and truly gapless playback to iHeartRadio’s listeners. iHeartRadio is the first and only digital music service to leverage AI for intelligent audio transitions that completely eliminate the space between songs to deliver a fluid and fully produced listening experience that preserves music’s energy and momentum from song to song.

“Radio DJs and programmers have mastered the art of segueing music to create beautiful transitions from song to song, maintaining the desired energy and mood of the listening experience that more than a quarter of a billion live radio listeners have grown accustomed to hearing,” said Chris Williams, Chief Product Officer for iHeartRadio. “Creating transitions that are unique to each individual song combination is not an easy task, and with the billions of potential song combinations available on our platform and new ones coming every day, it was impossible to scale this by hand. Working together with Super Hi-Fi we have made the impossible, possible, and we are excited to share this new listening experience with our listeners.”

“Broadcast radio sees the highest market penetration and longest user engagement over any of its digital counterparts, and this is in part due to the masterful capabilities of their on-air talent,” says Zack Zalon, Super Hi-Fi co-founder. “We are thrilled to be launching with iHeartRadio to deliver radio’s skillfully produced audio listening experience to its digital users. This is the next frontier for innovation and growth in the digital music industry, and we are excited to be working with iHeartRadio to roll out the first phase of these cutting-edge products.”

Beginning today, iHeartRadio listeners will experience three powerful enhancements architected from the ground up, and powered by AI technology that understands the nuances of music with a depth similar to a human DJ:        

• Perfect Transitions: Dynamically creates the perfect transition between songs every single time. Whether picking the ideal crossfade or recognizing when to simply place the right ending next to the beginning of the subsequent track, this next-generation solution uses real-time AI-processing to create the ideal transition every time a song plays. The result is a smooth tapestry of music listening, crafted to deliver an optimum experience for all listeners.
• Sonic Leveling: Automatically adjusts song volume to create smooth and consistent listening sessions. Not all tracks are created equal – some are louder or softer than others.  Sonic leveling capabilities eliminate the need to adjust the volume every time a new song comes on. The tech automatically recognizes the volume differential and adjusts it allowing listeners to just sit back and enjoy their favorite tracks.
• Gapless Playback: Eliminates the gaps between music tracks. On average, there are currently eight seconds of silence between songs on all streaming services that interrupts the music listening experience. The new AI technology now deployed on iHeartRadio automatically and completely eliminates the silence, bringing the listening experience in line with live radio.

These industry-first enhancements are now available across iHeartRadio’s custom Artist Radio stations, on demand Playlists, Playlist Radio and more for iOS users. Android users will experience the enhanced listening experience across custom Artist Radio stations with all features available for Android users in the coming months.

This will be the first in a series of planned innovative AI enhancements set to rollout throughout the year.