Art bell on SXM (Update, Art Bell QUITS SXM)

Here's a post from Art Bell over at bellgab.com

Art Bell Quits Dark Matter

I almost hate to see this thread wind down, in life you almost never get to see such unmitigated hate
accross your screen. Long ago because of fast blast I learned to ignore it. When you do a show and have a
guest people think they hate you will see "dump this ass hole and go to open lines" and a lot more just
like it and much worse, in the end you have to do what you think is right and act on it. For the most part
by the end of the show you are getting messages like"best show I've ever heard". Once in a while you
do have to "dump the asshole" but if you follow the advice of a mob it almost always goes wrong.

This board is a lot like that. decisions that we are forced to make or make because we think they are the
right thing to do are just that, and if they turn out well your a genius, if not your dead to the World or at least
some posters on this board, but it is always fun to watch.

We are currently in talks with Sirius/XM which really knows how to deliver to vehicals very well. The idea is to
become Independent Broadcasters which means no pay from Sirius while still keeping it exclusivly Sirius/XM in
the Broadcast World, however we would then be free to stream free at artbell.com. Another words the best of
both Worlds. In the long run I think it would benefit all including Sirius/XM. I think this will work but if not we will
stream the show at the first opportunity, either way it will happen if I have to finance it myself, I will.

I know all this seemed very sudden to most of you but there was much going on behind the scenes you do not
know about and because it was said to me in confidence I am not free to discuss publicly, however I feel this is
the right decision. If I am wrong I am sure I will be dead to the World and some who post here.

I want the show to work at least as much as all of you but I have been at this for a while and I know what it
takes to be viable and when I say that I mean not just as a niche type show, viable Worldwide. I understand
that some of you are sooooo angry that you will not listen to the free steam and I will just have to find a way to
live with that.

Rage on,

Art
 
microbob said:
The whole thing is strange. I have been lurking over on bellgab.com and they are going crazy. I have a hard time believing that Art has a better way to stream his show than SiriusXm does. I never had a problem with streaming his show as He claims and why He chose to quit his show with them unless they allowed him to stream his show for free on artbell.com.
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Agreed- never had any problems whatsoever listening to his show. Chalk it up to people using crappy old PC's?
 
I think it was tough for a large portion of Art's audience. It was too complicated to teach 50-60 year old adults how to work the player, subscribe, and hae to deal with internet player timing out. It's frusterating because I love his show (Am a new fan since he started at SXM) but there is a learning curve for learning new technology for older folks, so I think that hurt him.
 
I haven't heard nearly as many app complaints lately as I did about 6 months ago. I think the majority of them are sorted. And all streaming apps will lose connection here and there. IHeartradio has a lot of complaints as well

But after reading the Art Bell forums reaction it sounds like his fans know he is not dependable and has pulled this kind of stuff over and over. He's talented but very quirky and not stable. I mean he took off a decent amount of days out of the blue since he started only a month ago.
 
Ooopha ta tooopha. What a shame he couldn't have given it a go for 6 months at least. How many subscribers listen exclusively online at this point? I'm sure his call board was dismal, but hey it's a new audience with hundreds of choices. He gave up as far as I'm concerned. I'll be glad to never hear his show again. I'll just listen to the Phil Hendrie take offs of the coast to coast show. Actually funny and entertaining.
 
I knew something was up when the reruns started after a month of his show. I thought, "Maybe he got horribly ill.." but I also thought, "Maybe something is up.."

So here's my take:

Art Bell signed a contract and he, as a man, should hold himself to that contract. Instead, a month into it, he decides, "you know what? I should do some sort of internet streaming!" Ok, great. You could have decided that six months ago instead of pulling the rug out from under SiriusXM and your fans.

He could have decided that after a year or two in as he neared the end of his contract. He could have said, "Let's rethink this and I'll do a free internet streaming deal and you can carry me on sat." Nope. One month after getting his new show and just starting to build an audience (who would have known except filtered off C2CAM fans), he pulls this crap.

At this point, I'm not interested. I'll just go back to C2CAM and work around the bad shows. Unfortunately, they'll probably go back to financial and nutritional advice instead of ghosts, UFOs, and demons.

Oh, and Ghost to Ghost and Spooky Matters were both horrible shows. In years past I'd listen to Ghost to Ghost and think, "Ok, that's pretty creepy.." This year people just rambled on about nothing. I'm waiting what seems to be 20 mins to get to the 'pure evil' part of some idiot's call and she never gets there.

Ugh.
 
Maybe it was just a big loud stunt. Aimed to drum up the highest level of anticipation for his return. He gets his true fans all riled up, then bails out and does a new show on his website. If that was the case, then he did a good job.
 
Grüpsaar said:
I won't be listening to any new show he produces. Left a bad taste in my mouth.
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Sirius isn't listening to Art bell either. Apparently He no longer exists to them.


Art Bell Quits Dark Matter

Reply #7007 on: Today at 04:18:18 PM »
Ok today again we heard nothing from Sirius. It is strange that we get no communication at all.

Just so you know, not any of this was done on the fly, before leaving on Monday I consulted with Paul
and Bob Crane my sponsor and they both agreed it was the right course of action.

On Wed we proposed becoming a Independent Broadcaster, which as with others at Sirius/XM would
have meant we could stream ourself, that was the goal. They said they were activley considering it and
we have not heard from them since. I told them I was willing to be on air the next day.

I wish I had more to report but for now that is it as of the close of business Friday on the East Coast.

Art
 
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I remember spending hours listening to Art Bell :)

Before satellite radio. Searching the radio dial late at night. Trying to find a 50k station that I could listen to long enough before I had traveled far enough that I'd have to find another one :right:

Are you sure this is the same Art Bell?

This guy sounds like a hair dresser :(
 
TimTimSalabim said:
Wow, they're really sticking it to Art now. They're playing Coast 2 Coast on his channel.
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artbell01.jpg
 
I would rather have Art Bell back on Indie 104, but I think this is a good move by Sirius/XM. What will be funny if they air Somewhere in Time which is old Art Bell in the 90's that Premiere Radio syndicates on Saturday nights.


Update... Art Bell posted this on bellgab. In my opinion, I think He just wanted out and decided He did not want to do a 4 night a week show.

http://bellgab.com/index.php?topic=5069.msg197048#msg197048

First of all my sincere congrats to Premiere Radio, they made the right move. Business is War
and I would have done the same exact thing, and did in my day.

Second, given the same circumstances I would make the same decision again today about Dark
Matter. There is much you do not know and I will not talk about because it was given in confidence
and I am kind of old school so I will not talk about those things even though it would help you to
understand my decision.

Third, I would love it if Sirius/XM would waive my NC but they said no and even though I could run
out and get a Lawyer and perhaps win back my freedom I will most likely not do that. If I were ten
Years younger it might be a different story, I will say this, It seems crazy as hell to me that we offered
exactly what Premiere ended up taking. Now Sirius/XM has a show that will be mostly commercials and
seems much less a good fit than Dark Matter with a Host who thinks a Typhoon in Vietnam causes rain
in Hawaii. (Last night's show, first hour)

Fourth and finally I would like to say sorry to the people who did come over either by Radio or the less
than stellar streaming, trust me I understand your anger, I only wish you had enough information to
understand my decision.

Art Bell


 
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Is he doing his show on his website then? It's been a year and it doesn't really matter to me. I throw on coast to coast with Noory for 20 minutes during bed time and more often than not it puts me right out.
 
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