The CounterClock podcast is one of the most famous crime podcasts in the world. 

It is hosted by investigative journalist Delia D’Ambra and has aired four seasons so far.

The first episode of the CounterClock podcast was broadcasted in November 2019. 

It caught the public by surprise due to its intriguing narrative and topic of discussion: the brutal murder of Denise Johnson. 

After that, the podcast gained a large number of followers and became the subject of various online articles by reputed news agencies.

One of its major selling points is that it has an excellent host who knows how to build various layers of mystery and because it discusses some of the most brutal and unsolved murders.

The Creator Behind the Podcast

Delia D’Ambra is the host of the popular CounterClock podcast. 

After working in the broadcast news industry for over six years, she is also a producer (and host) for audiochuck. 

She is from North Carolina and excels in investigative journalism and has built her investigative career by interviewing people and solving brutal homicides.   

Delia started school earlier than other kids of her age. She signed up for pre-med at UNC-Chapel Hill but was immediately intrigued by journalism while looking for her statistics class and tumbling into the halls of journalism school. 

In 2018, after years of investigative journalism and experiences as a reporter and editor, D’Ambra decided to launch her own true crime podcast called CounterClock. 

This required her to wake up early every day and start working on production before heading to NBC-2 by 2.30 pm. 

The podcast was a huge hit, and it allowed Delia to collaborate with the audiochuck podcast network, which hosted the popular Crime Junkie podcast. 

After due consideration, Delia decided to shake hands with them, and her career as a famous podcaster began. 

Apart from the CounterClock podcast, Delia is known to host a few other well-known podcasts, such as Park Predators, which involves D’Ambra taking a deep dive into curious cases of murdered and missing people in parks across North America. 

Another podcast that she hosts is Dark Arena, which interviews investigators and police authorities who have dealt with cruel and gruesome cases and have lived to tell the tale. 

Recently, in 2020 she decided to retire from the broadcast network and focus all her energy on podcasting and creating content. 

She is now the co-director for audiochuck and continues to create podcasts with them.

Themes and Topics Covered

CounterClock podcast is a true crime podcast that covers other unsolved murders every season. 

The presenter narrates the episodes, who describes her research and the facts she came across that may have been overlooked.

The podcast has four seasons in total. 

The first season discusses the brutal murder of a woman in her own house, which was later burned: Denise Johnson.

The second season spins around the stabbing of 30-year-old Stacey Stanton inside her second-story apartment.

In the broadcast, Delia D’Ambra tries to find out if the right man has been convicted of the murder, while the real murderer is still at large.

CounterClock season 3 has the host investigating the infamous Pelley Family murders. She interviews people closest to the victims and police investigators involved in the case. 

After going through 6,000 court documents and depositions, D’Ambra begins to unravel facts that were never before connected with the murder, making it a binge-worthy season through and through. 

The latest season of the podcast, season 4, investigates who murdered a 17-year-old boy named John Welles in Arcadia, Florida. 

D’Ambra is re-investigating the case and attempting to shine a light on evidence that was missed during the investigation. 

This forces the host to come face-to-face with some of the highest Government entities in the Sunshine state.

This show is such a hit due to its investigative prowess and D’Ambra’s ability to bring forth hidden evidence in every case she covers. 

D’Ambra is very methodical in choosing her case for the show. She picks some of the toughest, most brutal, and most mysterious cases that have astounded police authorities for many years. 

She creates a sense of mystery around the entire case and unravels significant information bit by bit, so the listeners tune in for each episode to understand how the entire investigation unfolds. 

This talent for solving mysteries and storytelling grips the viewers and attracts them to every new season of the podcast.  

The reach of the podcast   

The CounterClock podcast has 74,600 followers on Instagram and millions of followers on Tik Tok, where each video garners more than 1 million views. On Instagram, every post receives more than 4,000 likes and numerous comments. 

The podcast has a presence on Twitter as well where it has more than 9,000 followers who engage with its tweets. 

One of its latest tweets received more than 5,000 impressions.

The show’s host, Delia D’Ambra has a large online fanbase and following as well. 

She has 46,900 followers on Instagram, receiving thousands of likes on each post. 

On Twitter, the host has amassed a fellowship of 9,826 followers who are constantly engaging with her content. 

The latest tweet about her interaction with one of her fans earned her 21,000 views and 284 likes. 

As of January 2023, the CounterClock Podcast was ranked #33 on Apple Podcasts in the United States of America True Crime category and #50 globally as one of the best podcasts.  

Based on this analysis, we estimated that the CounterClock podcast receives at least 50k – 75k listens each time an episode is published across the Apple, Google, YouTube, and Spotify podcast networks.

The Format of the Podcast

CounterClock podcast echoes the format of investigative journalism. 

In the first episode of a new season, the host begins by briefly summarizing the case she will be investigating. 

She lays out the case file, the victim, and the results the authorities reached. 

She then begins to enumerate her own thoughts about the case. 

In doing so, she highlights some of the interviews she conducted with key individuals during her investigation as important pieces of evidence.

These could be those who were either close with the victim or played an important role in the investigation. 

Throughout the episode, she aims to discuss newly discovered proofs and facts and where her investigation has brought her. 

She challenges the investigation results held by the authorities and begs the listeners to reconsider everything they were told about the case. 

As usual in all podcast episodes, the narrative is occasionally interrupted by a few ads. However, it is nothing major that would completely distract the listeners. 

Reception and Impact

The podcast is received very well by audiences worldwide. 

A testimony to this is that authorities and courts were forced to re-open the murder case of Denise Johnson in North Carolina after the massive success of season 1 of the show.  

Every episode of the show accumulates millions of downloads and views. Season 3 alone nearly received 40 million downloads upon its release. 

Here’s what some of the fans have to say about the show: 

“Delia is the best at what she does, period! Nobody better than you, and I’ve listened to them all.”

“Delia is an amazing host with compassion and tenacity. Thank you for bringing these cases to awareness. 100 percent binge-worthy!”   

Final thoughts

If you like investigative journalism and true mystery, CounterClock podcast is the podcast for you. 

You won’t just be swallowed by a true-to-life murder mystery, but also be intrigued by the evidence brought forth by the host. 

Head over to Apple Podcast if you are an Apple user.  

For Android users, Spotify, and Google Podcasts are the best options for listening to this show. 

Various other websites also host this podcast, such as Amazon Music, Stitcher, and Pandora. Find more popular crime and mystery podcasts here.