[MPlayer-users] Using Mplayer to verify streaming tv/radio links

[Donny F]

Hi guys.  I've put together a website ( http://worldwidemediaproject.com ) 
that is a database of internet streaming tv/radio stations from around the 
world.  I have built the site with all users in mind.  The site should be 
Linux, Unix, Mac, Win, etc friendly as I do not hide the actual stream link 
or force the user to use an embedded player to view/listen to the streams.  
In fact, you can even download the streams you like as a playlist that you 
can load into your player of choice (and even a few PVR software plugins).

In building the site, I have enabled the user to report stations that are 
nonfunctional.  In addition to this, I would like to automate the checking 
of the links in the database as well as any user submitted links.  What I am 
wanting to do is to script this with a simple for loop which would loop 
through a file containing the station stream link as well as the station id. 
  I'd like to pass each through mplayer and if a connection is made then the 
stream is good and move on to the next.  If the connection fails then the 
stream is bad, I would like to add the station id to a file containing all 
'nonfunctional' streams that I can later automate to flag the stations.

Is there an easy way to use mplayer to verify a stream exists?  I am not 
unfamiliar with shell scripting, but I am far from an expert.  If anyone 
could give me a hand with this or give me a push in the right direction I 
would greatly appreciate it!