It’s been a month since I pointed out that stations were slipping back into being > 180 days since being given the cursory review I asked people to help with. With about 14,000 stations now with websites or at least Facebook pages, visiting each one twice a year means needing to sustain an average of 76 per day.
The objective is to make this process self-sustaining, in the event that I get dragged off to Alex Jones’ DHS extermination camps. 😉
For about the past six months, I have been focused on research seeking the 1500 or so radio stations where I have been unable to ever find a website – to determine the stations format, or that the station even exists. Each day, I tried to do some maintenance of North Carolina stations, but that’s it.
So how is the volunteer thing going? Let’s look at the counts by day, not counting what I’ve been doing.
+----------+--------------------+ | count(*) | date(verifiedtime) | +----------+--------------------+ | 16 | 2015-01-01 | | 8 | 2015-01-02 | | 28 | 2015-01-03 | | 21 | 2015-01-05 | | 57 | 2015-01-06 | | 9 | 2015-01-07 | | 20 | 2015-01-08 | | 19 | 2015-01-09 | | 67 | 2015-01-11 | | 62 | 2015-01-12 | | 8 | 2015-01-13 | | 84 | 2015-02-08 | | 30 | 2015-02-09 | | 24 | 2015-02-10 | | 9 | 2015-02-11 | | 27 | 2015-02-12 | | 8 | 2015-02-13 | | 15 | 2015-02-15 | | 29 | 2015-02-16 | | 17 | 2015-02-17 | | 30 | 2015-02-18 | | 102 | 2015-02-19 | | 47 | 2015-02-20 | | 14 | 2015-02-21 | | 18 | 2015-02-23 | | 17 | 2015-02-24 | | 16 | 2015-02-25 | | 69 | 2015-02-26 | | 21 | 2015-02-27 | | 21 | 2015-03-02 | | 20 | 2015-03-03 | | 31 | 2015-03-04 | | 19 | 2015-03-05 | +----------+--------------------+
Note there are days missing where no stations were reviewed. I’m not sure why there is a three week gap in the middle. The data only shows the most recent time stations were verified – it may be that the stations reviewed during that time period Have been reviewed again more recently.
I’m not badgering people to resume testing. One of the people suggested maybe I wasn’t clear enough that I was asking for help. 15 minutes a month is not going to just tread water. Most “volunteers” who signed up never do a single test. If I revert to blocking access to the website unless people help, Google imposes a severe penalty on the website – and frankly people will just go away.
So I am open for some “thinking out-of-the-box” solutions. Paying employees money to do the work is out of the question. In a couple more days, I will finish up the remaining “never found” radio stations. A large portion of the database is already back to being “Untrusted”. The warnings have not enticed a single new person to volunteer and actually help.
Spring is coming. Maybe it is time to smell the flowers. The clock on the wall reminds me that you don’t get time back.
With the way the radio business is “evolving” all of this may be pointless soon. If Pittman achieves his goals there may not be much for us to do. Dennis Miller will soon be gone, who’s next Limbaugh? Coast to Coast? Hannity? If “talk radio” (largely a misnomer these days) disappears then who wants to spend their time verifying stations running infomercials? Maybe we can just convert every single station to a government run (taxpayer financed) entity that can dole out the “one truth” approved by google and Apple.
Unfortunately, I agree with everything you just said.
Talk radio has turned into lecture radio. Shows don’t want callers. PSA’s and commercials want to scare you and make you uncomfortable.
I’m convinced most hosts aren’t even thinking about what they’re saying anymore, just killing time. This morning, Todd Schnitt on WOR actually said that on his deathbed he would be worrying about whether Malaysian flight 380 had been found yet. If that’s true, he is one pathetic human being.
Well shoot. I am plugging away at the News/Talk stations verifying websites. I have it down to less than 60 days for the population in total. Perhaps I should open the filter a bit and go after all formats? Is there anything else I can do to help?
You’re most of those numbers 😉 You’re doing great!
You might choose a second genre and spread your limited time around, but that’s all up to you. One way to knock out 1000 stations fairly quickly would be to systematically check the EMF (K-love and Air1) affiliate lists. Having a big screen or side by screens screens would make that easier – or do one state at a time. The one “trick” is that EMF stations near a state boundary may be listed in the other state.
I kind of think the solution lies in getting more people doing a little. In the past, I have discouraged “super heroes” who want to be #1. Surely there are some bored seniors with nothing to do who remember radio and would enjoy this more than watching TV – or maybe not.
The problem with a lot of people doing a little – as you now understand very well – is that there is a lot about checking that gets easier with repetition. A helper who looks at 20 stations, ignores 10 of them and doesn’t come back for 3 months doesn’t move the ball down the field.
I really am puzzled what people are doing these days. Maybe playing Candy Crush. I’m on level 650 without paying them a $.01 – wanna be friends? 😉
Over the last two months, my days have been spent shoveling. Talk radio has taken a back seat to trying to prevent roofs from collapsing and growing ice dams. Having lived in Connecticut, Art, you are probably one of the few here who knows what I’m talking about.
But because I really depend on SRG and want the site to continue, I will get back to business. You’ve done alot for us who are talk radio junkies, so I’ll do what I can. The good news: the weather reports say we have 10 clear days coming up.
Last I knew you spent some time at a community center. Any bored seniors we might recruit from there? 😉
My cousin lives along the Charles River in Boston. While he doesn’t have to shovel snow, the amount of snow piled up there is overwhelming. His father (my uncle) was a snowbird, living in Florida in the winter. That must be looking more attractive (he’s in his 70s)
Kind of adding to the other thread, this site is less and less about talk radio, in part because over the air talk radio is rapidly disintegrating, which may just be the symptom of a deeper problem.
Oh, and while you can’t get time back, you can save an hour. This weekend is the start of Daylight Saving Time. A shoutout to Jake Hartford, wherever you are.