No, we haven't forgotten about Morning Java. We'd never do that.
It's been on a two-week hiatus, and it's about to go missing for a third -- and final -- week, as we recalibrate our foundational video feature toward what we hope will be the best format we've had yet. And that'll launch Tuesday, March 16.
Being as candid as I always try to be here with you, I haven't been satisfied with Java for some time now.
Two reasons for that:
• The pandemic forced us onto the same remote calls as everyone else on the planet, and that can make for some miserable interaction, no matter the participants or subject matter. It just isn't the same. Almost as bad, the video/audio quality is nowhere near what we can produce in a studio or even on location.
• As some readers themselves have relayed this way, there hasn't been much distinction between Java and our podcasts beyond being able to see our faces. The subject matters were similar, the lengths, the tone ... everything.
So, it'll be different. Very different.
For one, it'll be weekly, debuting every Tuesday morning. Four segments in the range of 8-10 minutes each. One person will host, beginning with me, and that'll be done out of our new studio. From there, the four segments will each feature a different staffer -- remotely until it's safe -- one of whom will always be Ramon Foster. The entire show will be available to our members here immediately, and the four segments will be sent out on social media individually through the week.
For another, the subject matter will delve into issues, ideally that spark a quality discussion and/or debate. It might be broader in scope. It might dig deep into history. It might be a subject on which the participants genuinely offer varying perspectives. But it won't be like the podcasts, which tend to be much more immediate in nature.
We're excited about this and looking forward to your reaction.
FEBRUARY MILEPOSTS
Our business is emphasizing four key areas where the 2020 pandemic-stained minuses need to become pluses in 2021, and to that end, here's how those four areas wound up just now in February compared to the same month a year ago:
• New subscribers: 157
• New app downloads: 446
• Page views: 1,643,066
• Podcast downloads: 305,115
Of those four, the first two are up, the page views are way down (Dale Lolley's exclusive Troy Polamalu interview was last February, and that erupted nationally), and podcast downloads didn't exist in 2020.
So ... eh, we're off to an OK start. Subscription revenue is slightly down, programmatic advertising is way down, but our direct sponsorships are steady and the podcasts are, again, wholly new (and welcome) revenue.
I'll update these following each month. Ideally, all four will be pluses after March.
MORE BASEBALL
Just a reminder that we'll soon be adding a full-time reporter to our baseball staff when Gerard Gilberto, formerly of Yahoo! Sports and MLB.com, joins Alex Stumpf in covering the Pirates. Gerard's first official day of work will be March 16, and you'll start seeing his work from Bradenton soon thereafter.
WEEKLY APP TIPS
Sharing ways to make your app experience even better:
We often hear from readers who miss a feature we had on the old app that allowed one to see all content -- every single post -- displayed in the order of publication, newest to oldest. We don't have that here yet, and it's not in the works. But a very similar experience can be had by simply tapping the team-page buttons. Choose Steelers, Penguins or Pirates, and all the files will be there in order of publication. Same applies for all four college team pages.
Can't say this often enough: Use the team pages. They solve virtually every issue we hear from those who have trouble finding something.
They also, by the way, offer the quickest glimpse at the news. All the latest on your favorite team is available to you with a simple press of the thumb.
Our previous two tips:
• If you like what you read by someone on our staff, you can find more from that individual by tapping the author's byline on any article or their name on our menu. And while there, you'll also see the author's bio, as well as links to find them on Twitter and/or reach them via email.
• The top right corner of the app has three thick horizontal lines. That's known in the app business as a 'hamburger menu' because it looks kind of like a bun around a patty. It's the way to open our main menu, where you'll find a gateway to all our content. And I mean all.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page views for the past week were 439,338, up 5.9% from the previous week. Our most-read original piece was Dale's coverage of Ben Roethlisberger's restructured contract, at 6,704. Broken down by team, articles on the Penguins brought 27.5% of our traffic, the Pirates 14.4%, and the Steelers 12.5%.
• Our new subscribers for the past week were at 71, a nice figure for this time of year.
• Our new app downloads for the past week were 113 for Apple, up from 98 from the previous week, and 32 for Android, down from 52 the previous week.
• Our podcast downloads for the past week were 76,431, up 1% from the previous week.
• We're at 39,700 (+82) followers on Twitter, we're at 37,074 (-1) followers on Facebook, we're at 14,444 (-14) followers on Instagram, and we're at 978 (+1) 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 Luxembourg, the tiny landlocked European nation that's home to 634,814, which actually represents a reasonably significant portion of the Luxembourgian -- Luxembourger? -- population!