I'm fortunate to run into subscribers in a lot of different places, including well outside Pittsburgh. My son Marko and I were having a Downtown day yesterday -- five different shopping stops, an absolute blast -- when we were stopped by longtime reader Adam Haberman and his lovely family, right in the heart of Market Square.
It never stops surprising me that someone would recognize anyone as insignificant to society as a sports writer, but hey, this is where we live, right?
This tends to surprise me, too: A lot of those readers, at least out in public, tend to be younger.
Now, we respect all our readers, regardless of any aspect of who they are -- age, gender, race, religion, politics and all that -- so please take the following observation in that context: It's always felt like our comments section has skewed more toward the older reader. Or the really older reader. And yet, that hasn't matched what I've experienced in public or, for that matter, the actual data we've got.
Per Google Analytics, here's the age breakdown of our readership for the first eight months of 2020:
• 18-24: 7.3%
• 25-34: 21.47%
• 35-44: 19.8%
• 45-54: 21.2%
• 55-64: 17.7%
• 65-up: 13.0%
Not what you expected, huh?
More than a quarter of our readership is younger than 35!
Mind you, this doesn't affect us excessively. It's nice to know we've got younger readers to secure our long-term future, obviously, but it's not like we're a TV or radio station that relies hard on a younger age demo for revenue.
But it does prompt me to ask this question: WHERE ARE YOU?
No, really, why don't we hear from you in comments?
We've got a strong representation of youth on this staff -- Taylor Haase, Alex Stumpf, Noah Hiles and Chris Carter are all kids in this business, relatively speaking -- and it's wonderful to know we've got all these younger readers, too ... but let's also hear from you!
Seriously, just this one time, let's reserve this comments section below for any readers younger than 30! Speak up! Be heard! Also, explain your silence to date!
REED'S IN-DEPTH WORK
I don't need to pile on the praise our subscribers have rightly heaped onto Tom Reed's in-depth features, including his passionate piece atop the site yesterday on Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley. He's exactly what we knew he'd be, given his extensive record.
No, I'm instead bringing this up to express appreciation to you for backing up your commitment to long-form. Anytime we asked what readers craved most as an addition, this was way atop your list. Well, it's one thing to want it, another thing to use it. Tom's recent feature on Mark Madden got 29,994 page views, our most in months. And even with less volatile topics, he's topped 10,000 with everything he's done, and he'll get there with the one yesterday that's currently at 8,694.
That matters to us. It's not easy investing in anyone to write once or twice a week. It's got to be worthwhile. And you're making it exactly that.
APP WORK CONTINUES
It's funny that, since the app was launched to our subscribers, we've actually been busier than ever with it. Dali and Dara have been answering emails aggressively yet personally, and that feedback's been forwarded along to developers in an organized way. Or we've just solved any problems ourselves.
Reach us here: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com
In the meantime, a few tips to common issues from She Who Is Boss:
• If your credentials aren't working, reset your password.
• If you can't find the email to reset your password, check your Junk folder.
• When you enter your username and password, be sure you don't leave an extra space at the end of either field.
And again, if there are questions, email us.
NEW MEDIA KIT!
We've got partnership opportunities all over the place and, to that end, we've updated our Media Kit to reflect all our latest information related to how we can help boost your business. You can download it by tapping/clicking the link in the previous sentence and, please, when you do that, bear in mind that we aren't one-size-fits-all in any way. We've forged equally great relationships with huge corporations and ... well, my dude Erich Cushey down at Curtis Pharmacy, sponsor of this very feature!
Reach out to She Who Is Boss directly: Dali@DKPittsburghSports.com
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our daily page views, averaged out over the past week, were ... we have no idea. We still haven't fully reconnected to Google Analytics. Hoping to do that very soon.
• Our podcast downloads, which are housed and tracked on an outside entity, were 47,169, down 7% from the previous week. Our immediate goal is to top 50,000 per week.
• We're at 37,088 (+105) followers on Twitter, we're at 36,767 (+17) followers on Facebook, we're at 14,671 (+54) followers on Instagram. These figures are just for our official company account on each platform, not for us as individuals.
• Get our free newsletter with a simple signup. We send out a new one Monday-Friday at 7 a.m.
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
• Anything you need, including lost/forgotten passwords, email Help@DKPittsburghSports.com