I reviewed our company's 2022 a week ago, and I'll look ahead to 2023 in this one.
Beginning with the same question I'd been asking myself for a couple months: What's our single greatest strength from the coverage/content standpoint?
And the answer I came up with was this: Games and events.
Beginning with our app, our community and the whole framework that's been built, we've got a staff that's quick and sharp with detail, all over the locker rooms, constantly communicating and, at the end of the night -- or early in the morning -- our home page is loaded with columns, game analyses, the new Freeze Frame feature that examines a single moment, an on-location video and that much more.
If any outlet anywhere offers more than that off a game/event, I'm unfamiliar with it.
So the No. 1 difference that you'll see in our coverage/content from last year to the coming year is that we'll have even more reporters on the scene at games, practices, events of all kinds. And more often than not, in by far the biggest change, that'll involve more than one reporter on the road. Partially to deliver a consistent written product whether a team's home or away. Partially to facilitate a new line of videos/podcasts we're calling Steelers 24/7, Penguins 24/7, etc. Partially because, as I've shared with readers over the years, access to the coaches, athletes and everyone else is infinitely better when traveling. (Fewer outlets, cameras, microphones cluttering the space.)
We've begun doing that in fragments this month, but it'll go full-tilt in February after the NHL's All-Star break when Danny Shirey and I double-team the Penguins' three-game trip through California. And from there, again more often than not, there'll be at least two of us everywhere. That's always been the case with the Steelers, but now it'll apply to the other two teams, as well.
Our other point of emphasis will be more features. The additional access points will allow us to get to know the subjects better, and having another reporter on site will allow us to fan out a little. So, for example, when one reporter's at the Derek Shelton availability in the dugout, another can be interviewing a player or coach. It's making better use of the time rather than following the beaten path and getting the same material everyone else gets.
To make the features happen, each reporter's being scheduled for three per month, with the topics agreed upon at a one-on-one meeting with me at the HQ/shop Downtown. Optimally, all of the ideas are their own, but we also can talk it out that way. Alex Stumpf already has his first ready to go, and it'll likely run this weekend.
INSIDE THE WORKS
• The Point Park University Friday Insider underwent a pretty significant change this week: I did it all myself. Which I'll continue to do. Also, it harkened back to the first couple years of Insider, with the same rapid-fire approach to sharing original information I'm hearing on all three teams. I'm legit excited about this. Hoped you liked the first.
• Super-cool idea, still in its natal stage: We'd like to bring back the 'Lunatic' designation, even though we no longer offer three-year subscriptions. We were thinking about assigning it to anyone who's been with us for five-plus years. And, from there, we'd add a yellow LUNATIC stripe under that individual's avatar. (Unless they don't want it.) Yeah? Anyone?
• By month's end, we'll discontinue our boxscores, statistics, standings and schedules. I loved those and was even deeply involved in designing them, but no one was using them -- only 152 total page views in the past week -- and they cost well into five figures annually. That's just a poor usage of company funding.
• Those links on the blue horizontal bar across the team pages will be changed instead to a static display of the team's name, making those layouts clearer than ever. This is the only part of this move that I like. Also, those bars will be added for the first time to the four college pages.
• Our developers at BoomPress are aware that the live files can get bogged down, and they're working on modifications to the servers to keep everything moving quickly.
• Yes, that means needing to enter a comment multiple times during a game. Which is making me nuts, too.
• Travel on tap: Taylor Haase flew last night to cover the Penguins in Raleigh, N.C., today. I'll fly up to Ottawa midweek for the next trip. Taylor will then take the games next week in Newark, N.J., and Washington. ... She'll also do the NHL's All-Star weekend, Feb. 3-4, in Sunrise, Fla. ... The Pirates' first workout in Bradenton, Fla., is Feb. 15. Alex will fly down for that, and he'll be down there for most -- not all -- of spring training. I'll make a couple trips myself, and Chris Halicke will help, too.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page views for the past week were 409,921, with our weekly goal being 500,000. Our most-read original piece was my Steelers season-ending column from Acrisure Stadium, at 10,240. Broken down by team traffic, articles on the Steelers brought 26.2% of our readership, the Penguins 17.9%, Penn State 5.8%, Pitt 4.9%, and the Pirates 4.5%.
• On the multimedia front, our podcast downloads for the past week were 153,148, with our weekly goal being 150,000, and our YouTube video views for the past week were 134,167, with our weekly goal being 150,000.
• Our company social media accounts are at 48,477 followers on Twitter, 38,666 on Facebook, 19,435 on YouTube, 14,815 on Instagram, 255 on TikTok.
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
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