Well, we don't have 2020 to kick around anymore.
And actually, in the weirdest way, it wasn't all that awful at DK Pittsburgh Sports.
Sure, the coronavirus affected us, too, as it did most small businesses. We experienced a 9% decrease in subscription revenue, roughly the same decrease in page views and traffic, and a far greater decrease in programmatic advertising. We also lost a couple business partners along the way, as they, too, were affected.
Of those, the loss of programmatic advertising -- those are the automated Google-generated ads you see on the app and site -- hit hardest. And there wasn't a thing we could do about it.
And yet ...
• When the pandemic arrived in early March and we realized we'd be without sports for a long time, we redid our 2020 budget and assumed a much, much greater hit than a 9% decrease in subscription revenue. It's to the credit of this extraordinary community that it stayed in single-digits. That was highlighted this past holiday season with the record purchase of 1,230 gift subscriptions, including 1,033 that were bought to put into a pool to keep existing subscribers experiencing hardships due to the pandemic.
• We distributed more free subscriptions than we've got time to count, initially to service workers, then to first responders -- inspired by an idea from our friends at Point Park University -- then to people going through health/financial issues and, as always, to our men and women of the military. That doesn't bring cash, of course, but it grows the community.
• Point Park University became our title sponsor, and we couldn't be prouder. Our relationship with them's a long and excellent one, and being able to elevate that was a real highlight here. We're equally grateful for everyone: GetGo Cafe+Market, Mike's Beer Bar, StepOutside.org, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, LGKG law firm, Moon Golf Club, Warrior Alpaca Socks and, last but never least, Curtis Pharmacy for sponsoring this very feature forever. These aren't companies or brands to us. They're good people.
• Our editorial approach -- and our staff, commendably -- changed more than once to try to adjust to the lack of sports and, even when sports returned, to the lack of access. It's tough to sell a product that takes pride in offering original material ... when we're all sitting on the same Zoom calls as everyone else. But we tried. We reached out to people individually, often within the stadiums right after the game. We shifted toward analysis and insight. We hired nationally renowned features writer Tom Reed and the one and only Ramon Foster to tell stories in a way we'd never had here.
• Our staff's never been stronger, and I mean that in every conceivable way. I mentioned Tom, and we've got the city's premier beat writers on Steelers and Penguins in Dale Lolley and Dave Molinari, we've got an aggressive youngster making his own name on Pirates in Alex Stumpf, we promoted Chris Carter to full-time on Pitt, and Taylor Haase, our most tenured staffer, just celebrated her fifth anniversary with us.
• Our commitment to coverage -- and I mean coverage -- never wavered. We went everywhere the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates did, at least where we were allowed. We flew and drove across the country, even though there was no additional access to be had, just because of a principle that we've got to be there to do our jobs properly. And our staff did so, I'll remind, amid a pandemic, with greater challenges than ever.
• Our podcasts were brought back in July and immediately did very well, adding a vital revenue source. As a result, we built a recording studio for the podcasts and for Morning Java, our first truly central location of any kind since the Highmark Stadium offices. That came with all kinds of good feeling on this end.
Nothing beats this, though: You're still here, still reading this very piece. However much circumstances and strategies might change, it still comes down to that.
Thank you.
NO MORE LIFETIMES LEFT!
We sold the maximum 100 Lifetime subscriptions we offered in December, and we've no plan to sell any more for the foreseeable future. Thanks to everyone who bought one and is now stuck with us for all eternity.
GET THE APP!
I'm always surprised when I hear from a reader that he or she is subscribed but doesn't yet have the app. I can't implore you strongly enough to get it. It's a big part of who we are. Here's Apple, and here's Android. They're free, of course, and they're both completely new, as of this past August.
ANDROID CRASHES
For those of you experiencing frequent crashes on Android devices, we're aware of it and working to fix.
WEEKLY APP TIP
Hoping to make this a recurring element to Site Stuff, just sharing ways to make your app experience even better:
• This is a catch-all, but I find it's of value: When something goes really wrong, whatever that might be, just close the thing out. All the way out. Meaning, don't just minimize the app, but completely shut it down. Force-close it. Here's how to do so on an iPhone or iPad, and here's how to do it on Android. Then, reopen the app, and it's all like new.
Our previous two app tips:
• Turn on your alerts/notifications for news and new content. Go to your profile (your smiling face in the top left corner), thumb down to Preferences, then Notifications and choose Select. Pick the material you want. Boom. (Please note these aren't the alerts/notifications for when someone replies to your comment. That feature's not active yet.)
• On the blue horizontal bar that stretches across the middle of the home page, choose TODAY to find a daily rundown of all our events and all team events for the day, as well as my daily What's Brewing feature and our staff locator map. On that same blue bar, find the day's videos and podcasts.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page views for the past week were 396,693, including a single-day, three-month high Tuesday. Our most-read original piece was my Grind from Heinz Field on the Steelers beating the Colts, at 23,399. Broken down by team, the Steelers brought 36.8% of our traffic, the Pirates 10.9%, the Penguins 7.3%, Pitt 0.76%, Penn State 0.48%, and Duquesne 0.26%.
• Our podcast downloads were 55,990, including a single-day record for unique listeners.
• We're at 39,014 (+125) followers on Twitter, we're at 37,014 (+41) followers on Facebook, we're at 14,786 (+3) followers on Instagram. These figures are just for our official company account on each platform, not for us as individuals.
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
• Anything you need, including lost/forgotten passwords, email: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com