All right, you and me, we're going to have to work something out here.
See, I really hate transcribing, and I doubly hate transcribing podcasts. And yet, because you tend to win most of the arguments around here, I began transcribing all three of the Daily Shot shows each weekday. To very positive feedback. And very positive data.
But sorry there, o loyal reader of ours, not all the positive feedback and positive data in the world will keep me from hating transcribing, and I first feel the need to explain why:
1. Transcribing is the worst.
2. Audio isn't meant to be read.
The latter, and I'm being serious now, was just as big a concern for me as the former. My worry with transcripts of a podcast is that readers will think that they're columns, which they absolutely aren't, as I'd never, ever, ever write the way I'd speak. I'd be diminishing something I've invested a lifetime to build up. And from the opposite perspective, my worry is that listeners will think I script my podcasts, which I've never, ever, ever done. Not for podcasts, not for any radio, and not for TV. I just don't believe in it. My feeling forever's been that listeners and viewers can see right through something that's scripted, that it feels forced or phony.
So, please understand both of those: They aren't columns, and they aren't scripted podcasts. They're nothing more than a written account of one over-caffeinated fool winging it for a few minutes.
Now to the part where you have to pay a terrible price for all this pain you're putting me through: Download the podcast, and that's an order. Even if you never listen to it. Better yet, subscribe for free to have all our podcasts downloaded into your phone. Better even than that, give them an actual try.
I can't tell you how many readers we've had who initially barked about the podcasts, only to try one or two and get hooked. Especially once they realized that podcasts weren't the enemy of this venture -- they'll never come close to replacing our written content -- they warmed up that much further and wrote to share that with me.
Alternate offer: Do all the transcribing for us!
Hey! Where'd everyone go?
RSS FEEDS ACTIVE
As of Friday evening, our site began emitting RSS feeds at the following URL:
If you don't know what RSS feeds are ... eh, probably better off keeping it that way. Acquired taste. But for those of you who've been pressing us for them, they're active and functioning and ready to populate your readers.
WHAT'S A LIVE PODCAST?
There's no such thing, of course, but that won't stop us from trying.
Beginning Monday, Feb. 8, I'll add to my own DK Sports Radio programming -- already three Daily Shot shows each morning -- with a lunch-time show that encourages you to participate! It'll roll out live at 12:30 p.m. in our new studio, and you can contribute questions, comments, whatever through any means you choose, whether it's written or by simply joining me on the show!
Once the show's done, we'll post it in podcast form immediately for anyone who'd want to hear it afterward.
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.
Next up is Major League Baseball, of course, and I'll be flying down in exactly two weekends to Bradenton to cover the opening of the Pirates' spring training. MLB is keeping the pitchers/catchers portion closed to reporters -- that's not a team decision -- but it'll open with the first full-squad workout, set for Feb. 22. Grapefruit League games begin the following weekend, and that'll be (mostly) business as usual.
I'm not a Florida guy, to put it mildly, but I'm looking forward to the baseball aspect.
APP PROMOTION UNDERWAY!
Our app promotion quietly began in the past week, and by quietly I mean it's the kind of campaign you won't see because ... hey, you've already got it, right?
The obvious objective is to get the app into more devices, so we structure all of our social promotions to avoid hitting, say, people who'd already follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. And yeah, there are ways to determine that sort of thing, which is amazing. And beyond that, once we have some results spill back from this, we'll be smarter about future promotions from the lessons learned.
Part of the campaign is this spectacular new commercial, designed by Thad Christian of Mount Washington-based Phenomenon Post:
WEEKLY APP TIP
Sharing ways to make your app experience even better:
• Use the blue horizontal bar that straddles across the home page with the buttons HOME, TODAY, VIDEOS and PODCASTS. We designed this as a way for you to have easy access from the home page to three additional key areas: TODAY is where we house a full schedule of that day's activities, including our coverage plan and multimedia appearances, as well as the What's Brewing feature. VIDEOS is where we house Morning Java, WPXI-TV shows and more. And PODCASTS is where ... oh, you know. Our numbers indicate this isn't getting much use, and that's disappointing. It's really smooth and efficient.
Our previous two app tips:
• If anything on your app ever looks/feels/is stuck, close the entire thing out and reopen. Same goes if you see the flashing yellow dots on a file for too long. It might be us that's causing it, or it might be your device, but this solves it either way.
• 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.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page views for the past week were 443,121, and our most-read original piece was my personal column earlier this week, at 10,081. Broken down by team, the Penguins brought 33.7% of our traffic, the Steelers 13.6% and the Pirates 8.7%.
• Our podcast downloads for the past week were a yet-another-record 77,230. This thing just keeps growing.
• We're at 39,345 (+175) followers on Twitter, we're at 37,098 (+42) followers on Facebook, we're at 14,476 (-18) followers on Instagram, and we're at 965 (+5) 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
• Oh, and we had 1 active user of our app in Botswana this week. This is a true thing, but I really just want to test that you're reading to the end of this thing. (Also, if the Botswana user cares to step forward and be identified in comments, this would be beyond awesome!)