Happy new year to everyone!
And thank you, for maybe the millionth time, to everything you've meant to the continuing growth of this first-of-its-kind venture in North America!
Although 2021 was a broader bummer for a bunch of reasons, it blossomed -- swiftly, surprisingly -- into a transformative year for DK Pittsburgh Sports, one that, in turn, will take us into a 2022 that'll top this one big-time, which I'll lay out below.
But first, here are 10 achievements over the past year of which I'm proud, in no particular order:
• READERSHIP: We had 32,117,318 page views, our second-most behind the Stanley Cup year of 2017. That was a 35.8% increase over 2020. Now, an increase is to be expected, considering how sports were shut down for so much of 2020, but that's healthy under any circumstance. And we never forget that this is still the pillar of everything we build.
• SUBSCRIPTIONS: This one's complicated. We added 3,723 all-new subscriptions, an 18.1% increase over that figure from 2020. We also had a 3.8% increase in the overall number of subscription payments. But at the same time, our subscription revenue was down 19.8%. The reason: For the first time, we no longer offered $299 Lifetime or $87 three-year subscriptions. As a result, the largest payment we ever get now is the $39.99 cost of an annual. It's a conscious decision we made to protect our future, and we knew it'd come with a short-term hit. It did. But as the rest of the math shows, it'll be worth it in a year or two.
• APPS: We had 5,226 downloads of our Apple app, 2,709 of our Android app, making for a cumulative 63.5% increase from 2020. This also was the highest figure on either device that we've ever had, and it was that on Android by a massive margin. It takes time for an app download to turn into a subscription, so we're hopeful on this front.
• TECH: There's no way to talk about app usage without emphasizing that this was our first full year of utilizing the custom platform we built in 2020, together with Adam Bertram and our developers at BoomPress. We continued adding, grafting and improving the app week after week, largely based on user feedback. And we never had fewer complaints. I can't say enough about that last part. We used to invest so, so much time trying to address situations individually. Now, it's mostly run-of-the-mill fare.
• MERCHANDISE: Readers asked for swag. Like, for years. Well, we finally offered it through a dedicated online store, with the entire place and all apparel designed by Dali. In turn, readers have bought more than $8,000 worth of swag in just six weeks. With really good reviews, too, from those who got back to us. (Especially the light hoodies. They're a game-changer.)
• EDITORIAL ADDITIONS: Jarrod Prugar finally became part of our full-time staff, taking over site management from me and assisting in countless other areas, not least of which was covering the Pirates' minor-league system, Duquesne basketball and Robert Morris hockey. Eddie Provident also was hired full-time, coordinating and producing our multimedia. Cory Giger joined us to elevate the Penn State beat. Danny Shirey joined us as a hockey analyst, taking the wheel of our weekly Drive to the Net feature. And I'd be remiss if I omitted Andrew Mundy, our first-ever intern, who's been awesome at helping with the highlight videos that make it into so many articles.
• EDITORIAL IMPROVEMENT: I'd also be remiss if I didn't underscore my appreciation for our two breakout players of the year: Taylor Haase is our most tenured staffer, but her steady growth into an NHL beat reporter found yet another level in 2021. And Alex Stumpf did likewise on the baseball beat. We value the experience we've got here as much as our readership does, but it's always extra special when that experience -- and excellence -- occurs in front of your eyes.
• STILL MORE STABILITY: Taylor celebrated her sixth year with us. Everyone else you've come to value is still here, too. There'll always be change, just like at any company, but man, I'll take every chance I get to underscore this one. Takes forever to defeat a misperception, and I'll keep at it forever. It's not easy being a startup and, then, even once the right people are in place, it's not easy keeping it together. We've done that. And we've done it through a pandemic, without a single layoff. We're damned proud of it, too.
• PARTNERS: We added two minority partners, David Rosenblatt and Ramin Baghai, as they joined Chris Hylen within our ownership structure. Dali and I still hold the majority and all that, but the extensive experience of all three has been a blessing on multiple fronts.
• MULTIMEDIA: Nothing has grown the way this has. Not since the business was launched in 2014. With our podcasts, we finished with 6,171,102 downloads, a quadrupling of the previous year. My Daily Shot shows expanded from one to three, our full-time staff contributes to a show or two per week, and we've been blessed to be joined by a group of talented, ambitious independent podcasters on our network. On the video end, we resurrected our long-dormant YouTube channel at the start of May, and we finished with 3,794,606 video views. That included a weekly show with Ramon Foster, as he opted to go this way rather than writing after taking a full-time radio job in Nashville. Both offer us significant revenue streams that hadn't previously existed, and with far less overhead.
Dali and I jokingly referred to all this as DKPS 2.0, as that's how it's felt. More change than any year out of the seven we've existed. More different concepts. More potential.
And yet, somehow, the coming year promises that much more.
On the writing front, we're going to make a push to restore that subscription revenue the best way possible. Meaning an even greater rise in new subscriptions than the one we just enjoyed. Being completely candid here with you, the podcasts and videos are reaching the point where they're carrying the writing operation a little, and that's not a comfortable place to be. Needs to be better balance.
On the multimedia front, we're going to stick with the programming we've got, though there's one other idea I've been floating of late, where we could offer on-demand, rapid-fire news-type podcasts. Something we'd be very well equipped to do in the context of the Pittsburgh market. Needs the right host. Needs the right feel. Needs the right sense of priority. But also, hey, it'd need listeners, too. I'm not sure how that'd be received, but it'll get a shot, I think.
And on another front ... nah, I'm saving this one for next week.
Suffice it to say it'll be the biggest announcement we've made since launch. No hype. No exaggeration. For me personally, it'll be a dream come true. And you'll have a chance to be part of it, too. We all will.
Once more, thanks to everyone -- and I mean everyone -- who's helped this thing become what it has. There's no independent sports media story like it anywhere on the continent, and it literally can't happen without the community that's forever our foundation.
