Media mogul and podcast titan Joe Budden is expanding his digital footprint with Crime in America, a new weekly video podcast series launching August 11 across all major podcast platforms.
The series serves as the debut release from Prime Crime Productions, a news and crime media company created by Budden and his longtime business partner, Ian Schwartzman. Steering clear of traditional studio deals, Budden and Schwartzman independently financed and built the show themselves. For production and newsgathering, they partnered with Dick Wolf‘s Wolf Entertainment, the production house behind Law & Order, alongside Advance Local’s Headline Studio division.
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Moving away from the standard cold-case format of traditional true crime shows, Crime in America focuses on active cases unfolding across the country. Each episode features Budden alongside local journalists embedded in the communities where the stories are breaking. This structure enables the series to surface local developments early, track ongoing legal cases week-by-week, and deliver grounded, real-time coverage directly from reporters on the ground.
Budden’s entry into true crime comes at a time when the genre has solidified itself as an absolute economic powerhouse in digital media. According to Edison Research, true crime consistently ranks among the top three most-listened-to podcast genres in the United States, with over 42% of Americans, roughly 119 million people, having listened to a true crime podcast.
The category isn’t just popular; it tops the charts for creator earnings. True crime creators routinely dominate global podcast rankings and land atop the Forbes highest-paid podcaster lists. For instance, Ashley Flowers, creator of Crime Junkie and founder of Audiochuck, pulls in an estimated $42 million annually.
Furthermore, data from Edison Research indicates that nearly 45% of true crime consumers are eager for coverage centered on local communities and active, high-profile cases, making Budden’s hyper-local, real-time journalist approach a strategically targeted move to capture market share.
Crime in America premieres on August 11.
