You'll usually hear about gift subscriptions from us only around Christmas. And with cause. Those have topped 10 percent of our total annual sales in some years.
But the quiet fact is, we sell them all year, mostly on birthdays. In fact, since Dec. 25, 2019, or after the most recent Christmas, we've sold 185 gift subscriptions.
Our second-biggest holiday: Father's Day.
Which is tomorrow, of course.
I couldn't bring myself to write about Father's Day a year ago, much less arrange a sale. Those of you who were with us two years ago will know why. It still hurts. I'm sure it always will, as this is when family and friends will reach out to commemorate the anniversary of my dad's passing.
So yeah, that wasn't where my head was last year. And it isn't where my head is this year, either.
At the same time, I've heard from so, so many fathers and sons/daughters who've found some small extra connection through this little place, and I'd be remiss if not sharing that on this weekend. Some of the very best stories I've heard from readers, most of them in person at our meetups, have been about someone's dad who loves Pittsburgh's sports teams, and how they'd spend some time talking about something they'd read here.
Again, I'm not sharing this to sell gift subscriptions. We had a promo out on Twitter yesterday, and we had all of two purchases.
If you'd like one, it's right here. Usual price.
If not, that's OK, too. What matters is maintaining that connection in whatever way works best for both of you. Stay in touch. Call just to say hello, not when you need something. Talk about old times even if you're not that into old times. Don't shake hands when a hug is there to be had. Cherish every moment.
RADIO MIXED BAG
It was a mostly uplifting return for DK Sports Radio this past week.
We averaged 3,163 listens per day, which was well above our expectations considering it was basically just the five episodes of my 'Daily Shot' show each morning. It's safe to say the expectation was about half that. So that part was good. And it'll no doubt get better when Jeff Hartman's afternoon 'Back Through The Tunnel' show starts Monday at 3 p.m.
The part that wasn't so good was the subscription component, and that was surprising.
We ship the podcasts out to every platform under the sun, including the three most popular:
Subscribing to a podcast doesn't cost anything, and it's literally as simple as tapping a single button. Go to whichever you prefer, hit the like or the heart or the SUBSCRIBE or whatever it asks, and you'll automatically have our latest podcasts downloaded into your device, your car, wherever you are. Can't beat the convenience. And on our end, those numbers all count toward the metrics used by advertisers to determine the show's rate.
If even a fraction of our subscribers -- meaning our readers here on this site -- would do this, it'd make a colossal difference!
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