Anyone up for an ad-free experience here?
Wait, before answering, allow me to preface by saying we'd need to make up nearly $100,000 in raw revenue to pull it off.
OK, now, still interested?
See, that's the problem with complaining about those automatic, programmatic ads — not those we attach ourselves from direct sponsors — even when the complaints are completely legit. They're still a steady, predictable stream of revenue. And if we did without that stream, we'd have to cut back on the product in some form, which would undoubtedly be even less popular than the ads.
Being completely blunt here, we're open to a price increase. The written product costs a lot to produce at the level our subscribers want to see from us. We'd welcome the opportunity to raise the annual/monthly prices, which we haven't done in years. But we'd also want to give something back in return, and maybe that could be achieved by dumping some or all ads. Or certain types of ads.
Our subscription cost here forever has been $39.99 a year, $4.99 a month. We're by far the cheapest subscription anyone can get for this type of product. And, if comparing to our only competitor in the market, the Post-Gazette charges -- I'm not kidding here -- $182 a year, plus they've got ads all over creation. And we cost 21% of that!
Is $50 or $60 a year a fairer price, while keeping all our student/senior discounts?
Or should we cut expenses on the written product and keep the price where it is?
Just spitballing here. Let's talk. I'll be in comments, as always.
MORE FOOTBALL!
In addition to hiring Chris Halicke full-time to cover football and baseball for us, and in addition to hiring Matt Williamson to do weekly football analysis, here's yet another cool thing we'll be adding once the Steelers get going: Ramon Foster's agreed to do a written report card for us following each game!
A lot of you will recall that, when Ramon joined us, he did so -- by his choice -- as a writer. And then came all kinds of outside demand, and he kept it to multimedia. But this type of work isn't as time-intensive, and there's a ton of value in hearing immediately after a game what an NFL professional has to say.
So it'll go like this: Dale Lolley, Chris and I cover the game. Ramon does the report card. Matt breaks it down once he gets the all-22 film the next day.
Not bad, huh?
WHAT ABOUT PITT?
We're hiring for the Pitt football/basketball beats. If you're interested, email me directly with a full resume: DK@DKPittsburghSports.com
Also, please don't mistake this for entry-level work. It isn't. The standard's the same for all our coverage, whether it's the big leagues, colleges or whatever. Professional experience is a must.
COME SEE US!
Every single day I'm at our new Downtown HQ/shop -- and that's almost all of them now that the Stanley Cup playoffs are done -- is a happy day for me.
We're open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and happy to say hello!
BACK TO BUSINESS
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