Thank you for the response!
Activity on the website has really picked up since we started the petition campaign on the evening of July 29.
As of the end of September 10, there have been 444 confirmed responses. More than 160 of them these have comments, and some have been pretty interesting. Here is a small sampling:
This last comment makes an important point. We see now that the plan is to put much of the displaced music programming on the second HD channel. (See the schedule on the WUFT-FM web site.) It's great that the music isn't going away altogether, but the HD channel is a poor substitute for the main analog signal. Obtaining an HD radio isn't the only problem—obtaining the signal is often out of the question. In Gainesville, it's great. Outside of Gainesville, it drops off fast.
You may read all the comments (with the names edited out).
This petition is a great start. I wish we had thought of it sooner, but then this has been quite a rush operation. This whole situation was sprung on us pretty quickly, after all.
There are some of you who submitted petition entries, and even have left some nice comments, but have not completed the confirmation process. The process itself is pretty quick and easy, but it does depend on your having received the email in the first place. If you think that you did not complete the confirmation, please look for the email, follow the link in it, and click Yes. (If you had already confirmed, the system will let you know that when you click on the link in the email.)
I'll be meeting with the people who had the idea for the petition so we can work out when and where to deliver it to the people who need to hear it. Dean Wright and President Machen might not be moved to alter their course right away, but this will be a start in the process.
I invite you to leave your comments.
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Let's Do Some Quick Math
If, as I suspect, all 323 petition signers are also pledgers to the station, then even at the $65 level we are looking at a decrease in pledges this October of nearly $21,000. If, as I know, these same petition signers are pledgers of much greater amounts, then the dollars that will be withheld from WUFT's fall pledge drive will be far far greater. The name of the game at the University of Florida anymore is money and football, in that order. Nothing in the way of the change we'd like to see will happen until after that first fall pledge drive. They have to see how badly it hurts the pocketbook before they'll do anything. I suspect that the talkhounds won't fork out the cash. They are so concerned about the "fast paced, news packed" world that pledging funding over the long haul to a community resource is beyond their field of vision. My suggestion is to withhold future pledges, demand spring pledge refunds and prepare for a waiting game. Now,if someone were to just turn Tim Tebow on to classical music we'd get this whole mess wrapped up in a jiffy!
Thank you for the campaign
I want to thank you for this campaign. I love classical music and don't mind being in the minority. I will miss listening to classical music on my way to and from work in my car and grow tired of all the news radio stations that Gainesville has that are either too left or too right and not very neutral. As far as Pandora.com, that station has recently started charging after 40 hours per month for continued listening and it doesn't give you the information about the music being played or the composer or the conductor/orchestra.
Continue the campaign for classical music!!
Please Stop Your Campaign
I am personally thrilled with the new programming - in this fast-paced world, news is far more important than the old programming. For those of you who still wish to listen to classical music, try updating your mode of obtaining media:
Get the HD radio - the classical programmiing is still there. If you don't want to pay for a new radio, listen on-line. Or check out Pandora.com - it is free, you can get it on your computer AND smart phone, and you can tailor your music choices to a tee. You can also easily listen to Pandora on a smart phone/iPod in the car.
Now you know how the rest of us felt when, at 9 a.m., the news stopped and the classical music started - we needed to find alternatives. I hate to tell you, but you are in the minority and this change is long overdue!
In this fast-paced world..
In this fast-paced world, I depend on classical, jazz, folk, blues and other musical forms (unavailable anywhere else) to help me maintain balance and perspective, so, no, news is not more important than the "old programming."
HD radio will not work outside of a 6-7 mile radius of the transmitter. The technical quality of on-line music streams does not match the on-air versions.
I believe it would be easier for news hounds to listen on-line to any of the stations with 24-hour news streams available, or go online and read the news stories and analysis.
how to create a forum?
Mike,
I don't seem to be able to create a forum. I keep being asked to put what I create into one of the 2 already set-up. How may I create a forum --not a forum topic and not a comment on a topic or on another comment.
Thanks!
Emily
email vs. website & forums
While I think we have resolved the problem of individual email addresses displaying in our email trail(use a list or use the BCC field), there is something about seeing everyone's name that an email goes to that kind of gives me a sense of community. I'd like to see more of the comments in the petition posted to the website ... maybe start a forum of petition comments so that we can see those that people don't mind us seeing. Also, my confirmation bounced so, I may need another confirmation email sent to me. How can others whose emails may have bounced contact you to let you know it is OK to be confirmed? This may be necessary to be posted to the email list since some may not realize they should come back to the website to find out.