So we achieved the goal of 1,000 sales on H2P Subscriptions. Exceeded it, actually, by winding up at 1,260 through a massive late burst.
Hail to our readers, as the Pitt faithful say.
We've done our part, providing high-quality Pitt basketball coverage home and road by Hunter Homistek, including today from Syracuse, N.Y., and we'll keep our word about doing football, too, beginning with the 2020 Blue-Gold Game. In turn, you definitely did yours, whether it was through single purchases, those by the handful, or the huge ones. All that mattered to us was the number, so that we could distribute those 1,000 to Oakland Zoo and other Pitt students and build our readership.
We had our share of skeptics, not least of which was She Who Is Boss. But it worked. And in the greatest of great rarities, she's gracefully admitted defeat.
OK, now what?
I firmly believe we could sell 1,000 of these toward Penn State coverage. But, as I wrote upon introducing the Pitt program, there needs to be more to it. We need steady readership, we need students to accept the gifts when offered (not as automatic as one might think), and, above all, we need to do our part with high-quality coverage.
So, Penn State students, alumni and fans, let's talk about it down in comments.
(And please, no school-on-school bickering. One set of coverage has literally zero impact on the other.)
Duquesne's a wholly different discussion I'm happy to have another day. I went to school there, so I'm anything but against reviving our coverage of the Dukes. But, as with the rest, it's got to be done right. And there's no chance we'll start anything midseason, so there's plenty of time on that front.
I'll be down there talking about it all with you.
BAD/GOOD MONTHS
It's long been one of the great ironies of this business that our most expensive months in which to operate also are those that produce by far the lowest revenue. That, of course, means January and February.
We travel extensively in both months, particularly when the Steelers are in the playoffs, and we finalize preparation for the Pirates in Bradenton, in addition to the Penguins' regular schedule, the NHL All-Star Game and the Super Bowl. Spring training alone accounts for a frighteningly large percentage of our annual travel budget, as much as 15 percent.
Only reason I mention this, though, is a positive: We're on pace to have our best January in the site's history, purely from the subscription revenue standpoint. The previous high for the month was set back in January 2016, which had the unfair advantage of the Penguins vying for a second straight Stanley Cup, so this feels all the nicer.
We don't ever share revenue figures -- no one does -- but I'll let you know next week if we hit it. We really should.
TV AD UPDATED
Our long-running television ad, now in its fourth year on the air, has been updated by our great friends at Mount Washington-based Phenomenon Post. We've replaced all the screens with grabs from the coming app/site rather than the current one, as well as adding for the first time Taylor Haase, Chris Carter and Hunter Homistek to that final scene with the iPad.
It's 29.5 seconds, a TV-friendly time, and it's right here:
For those who haven't seen the ad, it airs regularly on AT&T SportsNet, and we've had it in other places, as well, not to mention all our various social media outlets.
NEW APP UPDATE
It was another mostly quiet week in app-land, at least from our perspective, because this is when the underbelly gets built. And the developers don't really need our guidance, so we pretty much sit and wait.
Another thing to share, though:
That button at the far right, the one labeled 'HOT,' will house a new version of our popular 'Hot Button' feature. (Get it? The button labeled HOT? Hello? Is this thing working?)
Bob Maddamma's been doing passionate work on our current Hot Button feature, increasing traffic 15.7 percent month over month ever since he took over. The commenting's grown, too, as more readers have become regular participants in the dialogue there about stuff from all over the sports world that might interest Pittsburgh fans.
In the new app, it'll be that much livelier. You'll see all of Bob's work, as well as contributions, views from everyone else on our staff, as well, throughout the day. That's mostly because, being blunt, it'll be a lot easier for all of us to do so with a much smoother system. Same goes for your comments, which you'll be able to add with a simple swipe from the right edge of the device.
I can't wait for this. All of it.
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