Art Bell Returning To Radio With Sirius Show About The Paranormal

[Ryan Ruck]

Art Bell Returning To Radio With Sirius Show About The Paranormal

July 29, 2013

Art Bell, radio's master of the paranormal and outward edges of science, will return to the microphone on Sept. 16 with a new nighttime show on Sirius XM Radio.

Bell was one of radio's top syndicated voices in the 1990s before walking away from his nightly show in 2002 due to family issues. He worked occasionally after that but hasn't been on the air since Halloween 2010.

"I missed it terribly," said Bell, 68, whose weeknight show will air live from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET. Sirius is building a studio at Bell's rural Nevada home where he will work.

A Sirius representative contacted Bell through social media a few months ago, leading to the formation of his show, "Art Bell's Dark Matter." He'll talk about things like UFOs, ghosts, near-death experiences and weird aspects of science. He'll do interviews and take calls from viewers.

Scott Greenstein, Sirius XM president and chief content officer, said the show will be "uncensored, unrestricted, uncluttered and utterly unique."

"There's probably more interest in the genre now than when I did it," Bell said. "When I did it, I was damned near alone."

Bell was on some 500 radio stations nationwide and "quit when he was at the top of his game," said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers, a magazine that covers the radio industry.

Harrison said Bell's subject matter has roots in old-time radio, and he predicted it will become popular once again in the coming years.

"He'll be looked at as one of the veteran, old masters," Harrison said. "He's the real deal when it comes to marching to the beat of a different drummer."

There's also a potential rivalry with George Noory, who replaced Bell on the syndicated show. Bell isn't a fan, saying he considers Noory "not edgy enough." Noory's program is on later at night, so the two will not compete directly live.

No contract terms were divulged.

Bell said he's intrigued to learn the differences between satellite and terrestrial radio.

"It seems to me they are the next step in technology," he said. "I've always been a technological junkie. The mix of what they're giving me, the freedom that they're giving me, is priceless."

Haha! Will be interesting to hear Art back on the air!

It's funny, I think I started listening to C2C back in '95-'96 but I really quit listening to C2C after he left. Don't know how much I'll be tuning in to this new show though since he'll be up against most of NRA News. I listen to them 9pm-12am on Sirius Patriot Plus internet streaming, 9-12 was their old time slot live on air on Sirius before they got bumped for David Webb. David isn't bad but I prefer NRA News so I listen to them in that slot instead. I'll definitely be tuning in every now and then to hear Art though.

[Ryan Ruck]

Just a reminder, Art's show is back on the air starting tomorrow night 10pm to 2am on SiriusXM 104.

I can guarantee I'll be tuning in.

[Ryan Ruck]

I'm sitting here drinking my Harpoon Imperial Pumpkin Stout I just reviewed in my beer thread and listening to Art's new show, Dark Matter, and it is great! I would have liked to have tuned in at 10pm ET but couldn't turn it on until after 12am ET due to the Bengals-Steelers game (Who Dey! ).

It's like I've hopped in a time machine () to the late 90s! He's got Dr. Kaku on and is playing all his old bumper music. Awesome! At the same time it is interesting to approach the subjects they are discussing with the level of knowledge I now possess versus my much younger self way back when.

A fun trip down memory lane for sure... The only thing missing is the "East/West of the Rockies, you are on the air," he'd always do. Not sure why that is except I have a suspicion the calls are coming in direct to him and aren't being screened so no idea where they're coming in from. I hope they're able to go back to that at some point.

[Ryan Ruck]

Looks like they replay the show right after it wraps up so I'm catching the intro that I missed.

He is covering the whole backstory with Premier Radio and giving some of the history that has transpired in his life since his departure. Turns out his new wife is about to turn 30!

Also, some of you may remember Keith Rowland. He's handling Art's website again.

C. Crane is still advertising with the show!

Looking at the upcoming guest schedule, Hoagland is going to be on Thursday! That should be a hoot.

Man, this really is great entertainment.

[American Patriot]

I have a feeling Keith won't let me on the site. LMAO

[Malsua]

Did I ever mention that I went to Hoagland's home and installed compuServe for him?

I met his GF and spent some time listening to him talk about structures on the moon.(i.e. photoshop artifacts)

[Ryan Ruck]

I have a feeling Keith won't let me on the site. LMAO

LOL. There's no message board up there, it's a pretty basic site. The only really interactive part is a section called The Worm Hole which is supposed to allow you to message Art live during the show.

Did I ever mention that I went to Hoagland's home and installed compuServe for him?

I met his GF and spent some time listening to him talk about structures on the moon.(i.e. photoshop artifacts)

Haha! Now that you mention it, I think you had posted something about that a long time back. Can't remember if it was here or on AN. That must have been a trip!

[Ryan Ruck]

Well, that didn't last long...

I hadn't had a chance to listen in the last couple weeks so this is a little bit of a surprise.

Art Bell Leaves SiriusXM

November 4, 2013

Art Bell, the radio icon that joined the SiriusXM line-up on September 16th is leaving the air after just a month and a half. While passionate satellite radio fans may not want to hear it, his reasons for leaving boiled down to three main things:

• SiriusXM’s web player is notoriously unreliable, causing a loss of subscribers and a degraded listening experience for those who remain listening online.
• For a “caller driven” show, the caller pool for art’s show is just too small.
• International listeners have no legitimate way to hear the show.

This is not the first time that we have heard issues relating to the Internet platform offered up by SiriusXM. There have been a host of issues from the functionality to being booted off, to having longer shows reset from the beginning after an hour and a half, making it almost impossible to listen to a 2 hour show on demand.

When signed by SiriusXM, Bell had only glowing things to say:

“SiriusXM is the perfect fit for me and my new show Art Bell’s Dark Matter,” said Art Bell. “Though invisible, dark matter accounts for gravitational forces observed in the universe—expect these forces to be at work in the uncensored, unrestricted creative arena of satellite radio, a medium with truly extraterrestrial reach.”

It would appear that after just a short period of time, second thoughts emerged.

The departure of Bell, as unfortunate as it is, should be a signal to SiriusXM. The company has a compelling product, great content, and great potential, but in some ways has lost the edge that it once had. The frustrations of Bell can be heard on other channels as well. Opie & Anthony, Howard Stern, Jay Thomas, and others have all at times expressed a great deal of frustration. In some ways, the complaints of on air personalities ring back to the old FM days of terrestrial radio, a path that many consumers and on air personalities could not wait to get away from.

Bell is a radio icon, and will continue his show on the web. It is unfortunate that SiriusXM could not match up to his needs. Consumers can only hope that SiriusXM takes this issue seriously. There are indeed issues with the Internet platform as well as sound quality. Yes, Bell was probably expecting too many callers too quickly and did not give his show time to develop an audience from the pool of those willing to pay for radio, but Bell’s issues should not and can not be ignored.

From an investors perspective, there are not really any silver linings here. No, the departure of bell will not send the equity crashing, but the implications are not good either. If a personality such as Bell can not draw an audience with him, what does it say about other content? If a personality like Bell has a solution on the web that meets his needs better, what does that say about getting more talent to come to satellite and stay?

Whether we as investors like it or not, the sex appeal of satellite radio is not what it used to be. Satellite radio seems to have lost the leading edge. No, SiriusXM is not going to fail, but the cache is not what it once was. The satellite empire is not crumbling, but it is at a point where it may need to “re-invent” itself.

There will be a day when Stern retires. There may be a day when Opie & Anthony have had enough. As each year passes it seems that SiriusXM is becoming more like the FM radio we all wanted to tear apart. Yes, SiriusXM is better, but the options for listeners are increasing and SiriusXM needs to pay attention sooner rather than later. The company has done so many wonderful things in getting to where it is. It may be time to up the ante again.

Best of Luck to Art Bell in his ventures.

[American Patriot]

I think he just needs to open up his own station.

[Ryan Ruck]

Posted to Bell's website recently, he's planning a return with an internet radio show when his non-compete with Sirius is up July 2015.

I swear this guy has more returns from retirement than Michael Jordan or Brett Favre!