A long, long time ago, in a journalism galaxy far, far away, before online interaction with newspapers became common, I wrote a feature for the Post-Gazette's website called 'Penguins Q&A.' It was little more than rounding up about a dozen questions that readers would submit by form, then answering them.
It's wild now that this would've been seen as groundbreaking, but back then it kinda felt that way. It was popular beyond anyone's expectations at the paper, and it opened the door to a lot of other online fare.
If you remember this feature, congratulations: You're old.
If you remember how I used to end it ... hey, congratulations again: You've still got a great memory.
Each edition of Penguins Q&A would close with a few paragraphs labeled 'Things I Love About Pittsburgh.' (It was actually 'Things I Miss About Pittsburgh' for a while because I'd do it from hockey road trips, but I soon altered it.) Each entry was numbered, and each would tell the tale of a specific scene or setting or person or even an intangible trait about the city, almost always something right Downtown, that was near and dear to my heart.
If I had a penny for every time an older reader mentioned enjoying this silly feature, I'd have enough to buy out Bob Nutting. In fact, we hear it so often from visitors to the HQ/shop that Dali can mouth along the words anytime someone broaches it.
Well, it's coming back.
Beginning this coming Tuesday, I'll start a new weekly feature that'll be called Things I Love About Downtown, reducing the official radius of the original feature to just Downtown, but then, to repeat, most of the entries had been Downtown-based, anyway. It'll be done in written form, it won't be too wordy, and it'll include original photos/videos where applicable.
I've tossed this about for years, but now seems like the ideal time, with so much trash reporting on our Downtown being done by TV news stations, in particular WPXI but also others. Even the PG's been guilty of it lately. If those of us who are here don't tell our own story, then no one will.
I'm born Downtown. I live here. I work here. I love the place. I'm both proud and happy to do it.
PODCAST AD OPENINGS
A week ago in this space, I let readers know about available ad inventory on our strikingly successful podcasts, and we were grateful to hear back from a few and to near a deal with at least two.
That's an encouraging start.
My every-weekday Daily Shot of Steelers a few days ago drew 11,898 listeners on YouTube, plus 4,266 combined downloads on Apple, Spotify, Google and other podcasting platforms. That's a total of 16,164 listeners, which essentially equates to that of any popular morning radio show. And I'll remind, that's just one of the three Daily Shot shows.
We've got space available on the Steelers one and all the rest, we're open to businesses large and small, we're far less pricier than radio, and we've obviously got similar reach. And best of all, Dali wants to sell these openings at HALF-OFF through the end of February, if only so we don't have to worry about it later in the year when we get a lot busier.
Take a peek at our 2023 media kit, then reach out directly to me: DK@DKPittsburghSports.com
I'm here to answer any questions you might have about programming, where/how we'd handle your ad, and Dali would take over from there.
Hope to hear from you!
INSIDE THE WORKS
• Gee, between my taking over the Point Park University Friday Insider and now bringing the Pittsburgh feature back, maybe it's time to start dusting off those original logos with the 'On' in the company name, huh?
• Our aim for 2023, as I've mentioned before, will be 1,000 completely new subscribers. That won't be easy, and it won't come without heavy first-year discounting, per the industry norms now. If you'd expect to take issue with that, I'm all ears. But bear in mind that, after the first year, everyone will pay the same price. And remember, too, that anyone who can't afford the full price -- at any point -- only needs to shoot me an email. We work with anyone to get through tough times.
• Daily college podcasts, anyone?
• This Freeze Frame feature just keeps getting better and better, and that's on both football and hockey. To the latter, Taylor Haase nailed her entry from D.C. by being the only reporter to corral Ryan Poehling and ask why he'd leave Alexander Ovechkin all alone on a power play. Readers read it and commented and appreciated. That's how these are supposed to go. We capture a moment for you and own it.
• Travel on tap: Taylor will cover the NHL's All-Star weekend, Feb. 3-4, in Sunrise, Fla. After the break, Danny Shirey and I will double-team the Penguins' post-break trip across California. ... The Pirates' first workout in Bradenton, Fla., is Feb. 15. Alex Stumpf will fly down for that, and he'll be down there for most of spring training. I'll make a couple trips myself, and Chris Halicke will help, too, in addition to some NFL-based travel he'll make.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our page views for the past week were 361,662, with our weekly goal being 500,000. Our most-read original piece was my Point Park University Friday Insider from Ottawa, at 7,940. Broken down by team traffic, articles on the Penguins brought 25.7% of our readership, the Steelers 15.4%, the Pirates 11.7%, Penn State 6.9%, and Pitt 2.4%.
• On the multimedia front, our podcast downloads for the past week were 139,064, with our weekly goal being 150,000, and our YouTube video views for the past week were 96,958, with our weekly goal being 150,000.
• Our company social media accounts are at 48,801 followers on Twitter, 38,877 on Facebook, 20,310 on YouTube, 14,824 on Instagram, 354 on TikTok.
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
• Anything you need, including lost/forgotten passwords, email: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com
