There are no positives to a pandemic, though there can be valuable lessons. And chief among them as related to this business of late: When times are tough, go back to what's always worked best.
A longtime reader the other day remarked about our content in the two weeks since the coronavirus shut down sports: "On brand." I read those two words out loud to my wife Dali, and we both loved it. Because maybe without realizing it, that'd been our principal goal in working to weather this storm.
Our four foundational elements, really, have been these in no specific order:
• Reliable reporting
• My columns (I was here first!)
• Friday Insider
• Morning Java
The reporting aspect can never fluctuate, and if the second one ever does, it'll probably be because I'll have prioritized other tasks over writing, which is almost always a mistake. Even so, I've written every single day since the shutdown began, and I've got no plan to stop soon. It's been cathartic, actually.
The other two have been the variables.
Insider's had its ups and downs over the years, and that's acceptable to an extent. Some weeks, we've got an excess of excellent material, but it also can run dry. Still, Dale Lolley's worked to ensure this feature's up and running, stronger than ever, and he came through himself with a superb lede yesterday to back it up. I thought we'd have to put Insider on hiatus. Dale rejected that. He was right.
Java's had its ups and downs, too, most recently enough downs that we'd decided even before this shutdown to close up Java for a couple weeks of repairs. But now that it's back, and in pretty much the best form it's known for some time, the reader response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Some numbers to support this: Java over the past two weeks, or 10 new episodes, has brought an average of 7,099 daily views on our site, with an insane 61 percent of viewers watching all 15 minutes! We also place segments on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, which only adds to the audience, though some of those are a lot harder to track.
Nothing to overthink, you know?
NEW APP UPDATE
I had another meeting with our new developers yesterday -- via video conference, of course -- to continue work on our new app ... as well as the new website.
And yeah, there'll be a website, too.
We've focused on the app first and foremost, since it accounts for the dominant majority of our traffic, and kind of let the website fall where it will. Which is OK. That's the most common approach anymore, and it's logical. It's also worked out. Because, as a result, we've been able to have the site looking/feeling so much like the app, which makes it a more consistent experience for our readers regardless of platform.
Tablets are part of this, too. That experience will be much closer to the phone app than the laptop, though obviously with a more spacious display. We recognize that the touch-screen makes it feel mostly mobile, even on the larger devices.
I've now got an app in my phone and a test platform on my laptop. It's getting really close to full beta testing, which will involve select readers who've already generously offered to participate in that important step. And once those readers give it the green light, it'll be launched.
It'll certainly be here before there are actual sports. -- DK
MEETUP AT MIKE'S?
We clearly can't do subscriber meetups in this environment, but Mike Sukitch at Mike's Beer Bar came up with the idea to have a bunch of us -- and readers -- hook up for a cyber-based Happy Hour yesterday:
When it was done, a few of those readers asked if we could do it again next Friday. So we will. Maybe you'd be able to join us.
MILITARY DRIVE TO 1,500: 407
Is it possible that we sold 55 military subscriptions and it was still a bummer of a week in this regard?
Well, yeah, actually.
Fifty of those were bought by one reader who chose to stay anonymous, and otherwise it was as quiet as any week we'd ever had on this front. Which makes sense, of course, under the circumstance. I'm sharing mostly to offer the full perspective on the figure.
Josh DeNinno, our friend at Moon Golf Club, is challenging our subscribers to step up with 1,500 veteran subscription purchases in 2020, commemorating his course's 15th anniversary. And in the seven weeks since he's done so, our count is at 407, including 23 bulk purchases.
We've obviously got a very long way to go, but there's been a great early reaction to our having reduced the cost of these to half-price, now $19.99 for an annual, as we've done with other gift subscriptions. On top of that, Moon Golf Club will match 30 each month, beginning with this one.
Let's do this. Here's where.
Or, if you’re interested in making a bulk purchase, please email me directly: DK@DKPittsburghSports.com -- DK
BACK TO BUSINESS
• New paid subscribers for 2020 -- not including gifts, military, returning/renewing subscribers -- are at 104. Only nine new paid subscribers all week.
• Our daily page views, averaged out over the past week, were 63,217. The goal with this figure is to average 100,000, a number we've achieved regularly only during the two Stanley Cup runs, but that's obviously not going to be realistic for a while.
• Our most-hit original article of the past week was Dale's coverage of the Steelers in free agency at 22,002. The Steelers accounted for 197,533 page views, the Penguins 56,688, the Pirates 42,055 and Pitt 10,463.
• We're at 36,001 (+58) followers on Twitter, we're at 32,147 (+28) page likes on Facebook, we're at 13,832 (+88) followers on Instagram. These figures are just for our official company account on each platform, not for us as individuals.
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