CMG Productions and Stak announce strategic podcast partnership

UK-based CMG Productions and independent podcast company Stak today announce a new strategic partnership to co-develop and produce a slate of original podcasts spanning sport and crime. The collaboration will see the companies expand original IP into scalable, multi-platform formats spanning scripted and unscripted content, built to optimise creative and commercial potential.

The partnership will combine CMG’s experience in international production and development and Stak’s expertise in premium narrative podcast production. It will foster a new slate of gripping and character-driven stories for audio, as well as premium documentary and scripted drama.

CMG and Stak have selected four original projects for the initial slate all of which involve sport and crime, including stories from the UK, US, South Africa, and Latin America. They are currently in development stages and in discussions with platforms and commissioners.

CMG will produce and implement a broader content development strategy for each project to adapt the stories into other formats and genres. The partnership creates a long-term pipeline for premium IP creation, focused on stories based on gripping narratives that can travel for global audiences.

CMG is known for its unscripted slate specialising in sports and crime stories. CMG has worked with networks and studios including Netflix, Sky, ITV, NBC Peacock, and Paramount+ delivering programming including award-winning documentary The Footballer, His Wife and the Crash, and true crime feature documentaries including The Footballer Fraudster, The Durban Axe Murderer: The Rugby Killer, and Death in the Heartlands.

Stak is a multi award-winning independent podcast company and home to some of the UK’s biggest shows, including The Football Ramble, P1 with Matt and Tommy, and their sports documentary anthology series, Legacy - drawing millions of downloads every month from listeners all around the world. Stak is renowned for their ground-breaking narrative work, including Dancing with Shadows, which won multiple NYC Podcast Awards 2026; The English Disease, which won Podcast of the Year at the Sports Journalism Awards 2024; and their latest series Defiant, nominated for Best Limited Series Podcast at this year’s SJAs. Stak’s exploration into the most compelling stories in sport goes beyond titles and scoreboards - it’s all about the universal human stories rooted in the biggest sporting moments in history.

Claire McArdle, Co-CEO of CMG Productions says “It was clear from our first conversations with Stak that we were aligned on how to tell these captivating stories in the sport and crime space. Stak are leaders in the podcast production industry, and this partnership is an opportunity to bring these high-stakes stories to life in audio formats and beyond. We’re delighted to be working with their team to make that happen.”.

Nicky Anderson, Head of Narrative at Stak says: “Working with CMG is an exciting new venture for us, and one we’re really looking forward to building on. This collaboration is about bringing together two leading creative companies in their respective fields, that are united by a shared belief in the power of storytelling and a commitment to evolving the formats and mediums through which those stories are told.”