It's been a trying 10 months for this business -- and businesses everywhere, really -- one in which the top goal's been treading water.
There's been one exceptional area here, though.
The following are our podcasting download figures since we fully relaunched the DK Sports Radio network in the middle of 2020:
July: 139,467
August: 184,169
September: 211,445
October: 223,987
November: 208,805
December: 245,498
January: 302,502 (projected)
The pattern's both consistent and compelling. It's more than double, obviously, since launch. And there's peripheral data to support the growth, as well, not least of which is a 77% increase in the number of Apple devices tuning in at least once a month. (Apple's the only one that offers that information, but that weighs a lot considering 74% of all of our usage is through Apple Podcasts.) And even more encouraging toward the future, roughly 10% of those listening each day are doing so for the first time.
The result has been a three-fold blessing:
• Although we can't be certain of the overlap between podcasts and subscribers here, we're definitely finding some new ears. As such, maybe we'll be able to lure a few this way to do some reading.
• Advertising revenue from podcasts has helped to offset the significant losses incurred from the collapse of web-based ads. (This isn't about our local partnerships in any way, to be clear. These are automated, programmatic ads that populate empty spaces.) I don't know if we'd ever have pursued this without the latter occurring, so maybe it's a blessing.
• We've been able to offer a new, exciting avenue for direct partners, such as the LGKG law firm, Mike's Beer Bar, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Warrior Alpaca Socks and now fuboTV.
Where will it go next?
We can't be sure, but we most definitely aren't about to hop off the moving train.
Even as we've expanded our written product with the addition of Tom Reed's expansive contributions each Friday and the new Live Wire news features, we're going to find a way to raise the bar for the quality and quantity of the podcasts. That won't necessarily mean a bunch of additional programming -- listeners have told us they don't want the channel to be overwhelmed -- but it will mean being better at what we do and getting word out to the world.
Super-cool sound-bite promos like this one, designed by Dali, are part of that on social media:
We've been using what's above on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. They play one minute of the podcast -- ideally, one that's compelling, though that depends on the host's caffeine intake -- and invite listeners to sign up for automatic downloads. Those are a big winner for us.
They've gradually gotten better, which has been fun. I've found more of a rhythm, our new studio makes a difference for the sound, and my daughter Dara's been outstanding with the audio production.
In the same spirit, we're taking a very hard look at Morning Java and how to make it more distinct from the podcasts, even if that means reducing its frequency to once a week, the way it was for a long time. We'll see. There's no rush on that call, since any change wouldn't take effect until we've all been stabbed with needles and can congregate again. But there's no doubt Java's a billion times better when we're face to face than what we've been able to do.
However that plays out, the podcasts are a full-go.
CORONAVIRUS VS. COVERAGE
We've made every effort all through 2020 and still now to bring you the usual standard of coverage for all of our sports teams, despite coronavirus restrictions, and we're continuing to do that.
As of last night, the Penguins offered us two seats -- up from one -- at PPG Paints Arena, which is how both Dave Molinari and Taylor Haase were there to cover the game against the Rangers. That was a welcome development, obviously, and appreciated. We've also received updates from the NHL's other East Division teams and will adjust accordingly for road games.
Everything with the NFL and Major League Baseball was awesome, in case anyone's wondering. It's only the NHL that's ever a concern. Which, by the way, is how they keep killing TV networks, as with the pending shutdown of NBCSN. Just saying.
GET YER APP HERE!
Our app promotion's set to be unfurled soon on a bunch of platforms, and here's the spectacular new commercial we'll use, designed by Thad Christian of Mount Washington-based Phenomenon Post:
WEEKLY APP TIP
Sharing ways to make your app experience even better:
• We're listening to your emails to the Help account. Every email that arrives -- not comments under this file, but actual emails -- goes into a pool. And as a result, we were able to address several issues in the past week, notably the temporary disabling of the super-sensitive swipe function on comments but also elements to the hockey stats package. We welcome any and all feedback on the app. It makes a difference. But again, via actual emails.
Our previous two app tips:
• Use the team pages. I know that sounds super-obvious, and I appreciate that more app users than ever are tapping the big Steelers, Penguins and Pirates buttons on the bottom bar. But it still feels like it could be more. Anytime I hear anyone say that this story or that story got buried on the home page, my reflexive reaction is that the thing was still atop one of our team pages. The way this was designed, we wanted anyone to feel as if this could be their Steelers app or Penguins app or Pirates app, with one tap.
Also, these team pages are the main portals to our statistical packages. We've unfurled the first of our statistical packages, that being for the Penguins, the one team that's currently in season. You can check it out right here, then tap on STANDINGS, STATISTICS and SCHEDULE on the big blue bar near the top of the page.
• Alerts are now active on all devices. Be sure to turn on your alerts/notifications for news and new content. They won't just show up out of nowhere. You've got to choose to have them on. Go to your profile (your avatar in the top left corner of the home page), thumb down to Preferences, then Notifications and choose Select. Pick the material you want. Boom.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page views for the past week were 486,171. Our most-read original piece was Taylor Haase's coverage of the Penguins' injuries to Marcus Pettersson and Juuso Riikola, at 14,220 . Broken down by team, the Penguins brought 24.8% of our traffic, the Steelers 19.4% and the Pirates 13.8%.
• Repeating from above, our podcast downloads for the past week were a record 72,883.
• We're at 39,020 (+105) followers on Twitter, we're at 37,032 (+6) followers on Facebook, we're at 14,529 (-62) followers on Instagram., and we're at 961 (+4) followers on YouTube. 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