The past few days, Dali and I've been putting together both a plan and a budget toward 2026, seizing upon the Steelers being done and the Penguins being out in Western Canada.
Before proceeding, though, we completed all our 2025 books, and here's some stuff:
• Overall: Revenue was up 3.3% over the full year, as compared to 2024. Also, we were again profitable, as we've been through 10 of our 11 years of existence. (Only COVID was an exception.) This is what matters more than everything else, obviously.
• Video: This is our headliner, and by a broad margin. We were up 25.1% in audience, we were up 33.8% in revenue, and the steady ascent of both those figures has us confident for even more in the year to come, doubly so with the NFL Draft being here.
• Audio: Strange year on this front. Our listeners -- and by that, I mean the audio-only podcasts on Apple, Spotify and so forth -- were up 4.2% while our revenue stayed virtually the same. The main reason for the latter, as far as we can see, is that podcasting metrics across the board remain crude. They've only ramped up to a YouTube-level of metrics in recent months. Regardless, this was OK.
• Readership: From purely a page-view count, we were down 1.8%. That's hardly alarming, but it's also not an increase. Also and really relevant: Google Analytics had a major change in tracking all kinds of events, and that might've skewed this. We'll see over time.
• Subscriptions: This remains, for now, our greatest source of revenue, so it's not great that we were down 3.7% in the amount of money generated. The actual subscriber count -- humans -- was slightly up, but the money was down, and I'm sure that's because we offered the $19.99 discount to almost everyone who was new. Ideally, that'll pay off in the long term.
• Display ads: This is the dirty little secret, one might say, as to why newspapers and news outlets are dying across North America. Those ad boxes one commonly finds in such places -- the free version of our app/site, too -- aren't paying close to what they once did. It's been a big, long fade. And for us in 2025, it was down 6.3%, with us forecasting it'll be down as much as 20% more into 2026. Bad, bad stuff here.
• Sponsorships: Almost exactly level. Thanks to Mike's Beer Bar, LGKG and NSSF for being beautiful partners in what we do. Bright spot here is that we've lined up several new ones, all seeking exposure on our multimedia. (Here, too, no potential sponsor wants anything to do with the printed word.)
• HQ/shop: This is a very small part of what we do, but it was still up 9.6%, thanks mostly to all the good things happening Downtown, but also the Steelers' semi-surge to first place. I don't have to tell anyone the increase here should be huge for 2026 because of the draft.
Bottom line: Big things are happening in multimedia, and we'll obviously embrace that in every way we can. At the same time, our peak priority remains the community we've all built at this special place. We just need to get all of that in sync and keep growing.
MORE HIRING TO COME
A week ago in this space, we shared that we're bringing back Greg Macafee as part of our additional emphasis on visuals, but we're not done hiring.
Even before the Post-Gazette announced it'll close in May, we were No. 1 in the market in online sports readership, viewership and listenership, and our aim is to pad that lead in all categories. That'll take more resources, notably more people, and we're ready for that.
That said, a friendly reminder that we're a long ways off from being a startup. We're not teaching or training. Big-league experience is a must.
• The flickering's gone from our feeds. For anyone who hadn't noticed, any embedded video or photography on our feeds had been flickering each time an emoji or cup would get touched. No longer the case.
• Chris Halicke will cover the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., in the coming week, beginning Tuesday. The Penguins have two road games remaining before the Olympic break: Taylor Haase will have the trip to Elmont, N.Y., and I'll have the finale in Buffalo, N.Y. And you'll never guess where Jose Negron's heading -- Greg, too! -- in three short weeks.
• Feel free to add a generous review of any aspect of our business on our Google business listing, or on our Appleand Spotify podcast channels. Makes a significant difference.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our video views for our most recent full seven-day span, Jan. 16-22, were 277,262. Our most-watched program was my Tuesday morning Daily Shot of Steelers on the fall of Arthur Smith, at 18,616.
• Our page-view numbers, also for Jan. 16-22, were 791,167. Our most-read original piece was Chris'analysis of the Steelers' quarterback options, at 12,161.
THE ASYLUM
Site Stuff: Our year in review
The past few days, Dali and I've been putting together both a plan and a budget toward 2026, seizing upon the Steelers being done and the Penguins being out in Western Canada.
Before proceeding, though, we completed all our 2025 books, and here's some stuff:
• Overall: Revenue was up 3.3% over the full year, as compared to 2024. Also, we were again profitable, as we've been through 10 of our 11 years of existence. (Only COVID was an exception.) This is what matters more than everything else, obviously.
• Video: This is our headliner, and by a broad margin. We were up 25.1% in audience, we were up 33.8% in revenue, and the steady ascent of both those figures has us confident for even more in the year to come, doubly so with the NFL Draft being here.
• Audio: Strange year on this front. Our listeners -- and by that, I mean the audio-only podcasts on Apple, Spotify and so forth -- were up 4.2% while our revenue stayed virtually the same. The main reason for the latter, as far as we can see, is that podcasting metrics across the board remain crude. They've only ramped up to a YouTube-level of metrics in recent months. Regardless, this was OK.
• Readership: From purely a page-view count, we were down 1.8%. That's hardly alarming, but it's also not an increase. Also and really relevant: Google Analytics had a major change in tracking all kinds of events, and that might've skewed this. We'll see over time.
• Subscriptions: This remains, for now, our greatest source of revenue, so it's not great that we were down 3.7% in the amount of money generated. The actual subscriber count -- humans -- was slightly up, but the money was down, and I'm sure that's because we offered the $19.99 discount to almost everyone who was new. Ideally, that'll pay off in the long term.
• Display ads: This is the dirty little secret, one might say, as to why newspapers and news outlets are dying across North America. Those ad boxes one commonly finds in such places -- the free version of our app/site, too -- aren't paying close to what they once did. It's been a big, long fade. And for us in 2025, it was down 6.3%, with us forecasting it'll be down as much as 20% more into 2026. Bad, bad stuff here.
• Sponsorships: Almost exactly level. Thanks to Mike's Beer Bar, LGKG and NSSF for being beautiful partners in what we do. Bright spot here is that we've lined up several new ones, all seeking exposure on our multimedia. (Here, too, no potential sponsor wants anything to do with the printed word.)
• HQ/shop: This is a very small part of what we do, but it was still up 9.6%, thanks mostly to all the good things happening Downtown, but also the Steelers' semi-surge to first place. I don't have to tell anyone the increase here should be huge for 2026 because of the draft.
Bottom line: Big things are happening in multimedia, and we'll obviously embrace that in every way we can. At the same time, our peak priority remains the community we've all built at this special place. We just need to get all of that in sync and keep growing.
MORE HIRING TO COME
A week ago in this space, we shared that we're bringing back Greg Macafee as part of our additional emphasis on visuals, but we're not done hiring.
Even before the Post-Gazette announced it'll close in May, we were No. 1 in the market in online sports readership, viewership and listenership, and our aim is to pad that lead in all categories. That'll take more resources, notably more people, and we're ready for that.
That said, a friendly reminder that we're a long ways off from being a startup. We're not teaching or training. Big-league experience is a must.
Email resumé: Jobs@DKPittsburghSports.com.
INSIDE THE WORKS
• The flickering's gone from our feeds. For anyone who hadn't noticed, any embedded video or photography on our feeds had been flickering each time an emoji or cup would get touched. No longer the case.
• Chris Halicke will cover the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., in the coming week, beginning Tuesday. The Penguins have two road games remaining before the Olympic break: Taylor Haase will have the trip to Elmont, N.Y., and I'll have the finale in Buffalo, N.Y. And you'll never guess where Jose Negron's heading -- Greg, too! -- in three short weeks.
• Feel free to add a generous review of any aspect of our business on our Google business listing, or on our Apple and Spotify podcast channels. Makes a significant difference.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our video views for our most recent full seven-day span, Jan. 16-22, were 277,262. Our most-watched program was my Tuesday morning Daily Shot of Steelers on the fall of Arthur Smith, at 18,616.
• Our page-view numbers, also for Jan. 16-22, were 791,167. Our most-read original piece was Chris' analysis of the Steelers' quarterback options, at 12,161.
• Our company social media: 71,829 followers on Facebook, 59,598 on X, 57,348 on YouTube, 17,611 on Instagram, 7,995 on TikTok, 6,658 on Threads.
• We make mistakes. If you see one, email: Typos@DKPittsburghSports.com
• The Downtown HQ/shop's open Tuesday-Saturday, 12-6 p.m., while our company-themed merch can be had in our online store.
• Anything you need, email: Help@DKPittsburghSports.com
• Thanks for supporting this proud venture.
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