All done with Military Drive to 1,500 ... before Veterans Day!

It was supposed to take a full year. Then, once the pandemic hit, we wondered if it'd happen at all.

Well, here we are, a handful of days before Veterans Day, and I'm happy to share that we've just completed our Moon Golf Club Military Drive to 1,500!

As of last night, readers have bought 1,515 military subscriptions with a big rush that was entirely related to Veterans Day. The figure earlier in the week was 1,290, after which Matt Mackowiak, a Texas-based Lifetime Lunatic, picked up 100 all by himself, matched by another 110 from Todd Singleton, a Virginia-based Lifetime Lunatic, followed by a 10, a two, a two, and a one. (That's how we wound up 15 over.)

All of them are appreciated, large and small. All of them.

We get a lot of praise for this program, but it really shouldn't come in this direction. If you're fairly new here, let me explain why.

When this business was launched in 2014, I made a commitment to offer free subscriptions to everyone actively serving in the military. That's because I'd regularly see through Google Analytics that, in the middle of the night, we'd have a few readers show up from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Iraq and other areas where our military men and women are based overseas. So I made those free.

That's when readers took over. In our comments section and through direct correspondence, they asked if there was a way they could band together to take care of veterans, too, not just those actively serving. And from there, Josh DeNinno, our friend at Moon Golf Club who's done so much on his own for the military, came up with the concept for the Drive to 1,500.

We'll do this again in 2021, of course.

HOLIDAY PLAN

We're working on a significant promotion for the coming Thanksgiving/Christmas season, and part of that will have a familiar refrain. It's usually the time of year we allot for a few more Lifetime subscriptions. That's not etched in stone, but I'm hoping it happens. If it does, they'd be available after Thanksgiving through year's end ... or however long that number lasts.

NEW STUDIO!

Not visuals to share yet, but we're constructing a new studio for Morning Java videos and DK Sports Radio podcasts!

We moved the equipment over the past couple days. By the time it's done -- probably another week or two -- it'll be the highest-grade setup we've had yet. Which is really cool. We're excited about this. Just another tangible sign of how well the multimedia fare is working for us.

ADS ARE BACK!

Ha!

Look, no one anywhere clamors for more online advertising, but we couldn't exist on subscription revenue alone, given our staff size, travel and other expenses. So we're glad to have all our ads back, as well as the resultant revenue.

That includes the sponsor to this very feature, Curtis Pharmacy. And hey, just because we love Erich Cushey that much, here's a bonus one:

OLD MATERIAL?

One thing that'll still take time is migrating old content to the new app/site. In the interim, if there's ever an article you'd like to find, we've created a pathway to that at the following link. You won't see anything on that actual page, but you can use the search bar in the top right.

PENN STATE? DUQUESNE?

As part of resuming full coverage of Penn State football and Duquesne basketball in 2020, we're making the full commitment. That means travel and everything. That's why Jarrod Prugar is traveling to cover the Nittany Lions and why we're expecting to do the same with the Dukes.

But ... we need help on these. I won't hide that. Eventually, that'll involve our subscribers coming through, primarily through reading and sharing but also, very soon, buying gift subscriptions we'll attach to each school. From there, it'll involve getting support from a sponsor for each one.

Who'll step up for Penn State? 

Who'll step up for Duquesne?

Here's hoping that's your business. If it is, reach out directly to She Who Is Boss at Dali@DKPittsburghSports.com

FIRST RESPONDERS, TOO

Inspired by our friends at Point Park University, we're making an unprecedented offer to our region's first responders.

If you're currently serving in the police force, the fire department or emergency medical services of Pittsburgh or any other city, town or municipality in Allegheny County and the five contiguous counties -- Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland -- you can have a full-year subscription to DK Pittsburgh Sports for 80 CENTS!

Also, and I can't stress this strongly enough: This is only for completely new subscribers. No renewals, extensions or comebacks, please.

Here's how it works:

1. Tap this link

2. Tap 'BECOME A MEMBER,' fill in the form, then tap 'CREATE ACCOUNT'

3. On the next screen, choose 'Annual' subscription, then tap 'PAY WITH CARD'

4. In the field marked 'Discount Code,' enter PPU2020

5. Enter your name as it appears on your credit card, then the card information itself, then tap 'SUBSCRIBE' ... and that's it!

BACK TO BUSINESS

• Our daily page views, averaged out over the past week, were 142,926, up 4.3% from the previous week. Our most-read original article was my injury report from Nashville following the Steelers' seventh victory, at 25,575. Broken down by team, we had 327,290 for Steelers, 95,844 views for Pirates, 52,785 for Penguins, 9,199 for Pitt, 6,546 for Penn State, 4,317 for Duquesne.

• Our podcast downloads for DK Sports Radio original content were 56,758, up 13% from the previous week. That included a record day Monday -- right after the Steelers game -- of 12,198.

• We're at 37,792 (+139) followers on Twitter, we're at 36,836 (+8) followers on Facebook, we're at 14,741 (-9) followers on Instagram. These figures are just for our official company account on each platform, not for us as individuals.

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