Coast to Coast
John B. Wells fired for being too popular and truthful: An exclusive interview Tags
07 Friday Feb 2014
Posted by Mary W. in US News
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Art Bell, Coast to Coast, Fired, George Noory, John B. Wells, Journalism, maverick
John B. Wells has one of the most recognized voices in America, but unfortunately a million Americans will no longer get to hear his melodious voice on Saturday nights on what was his popular Coast to Coast radio broadcast.
(INTELLIHUB) – The following is an exclusive print interview I conducted with John B. Wells on the evening of February 5, 2014. Why was this ever-so-popular host let go by some unidentified powers that be in the corporate structure at Coast to Coast?
On the surface, the firing of John B. Wells made no sense. However, as we peel back the public veneer that is Coast to Coast, the firing of John B. Wells was inevitable.
The Glory Days of Coast to Coast Are Gone
In days gone by, Coast to Coast was once the flag-ship of the alternative media, which captured 500 stations in late night radio when the show was hosted by Art Bell. Bell blazed a trail that nobody had ever traveled before, as he brought subjects to the mainstream airwaves that was unprecedented in both its subject areas and its depth of coverage.
Bell’s meteoric rise to unprecedented popularity in late night radio continued unabated until Premier purchased control of the show for $8 million dollars.
That is when the trouble began for Bell in terms of retaining editorial control of his show. When Art Bell relinquished control of his program to corporate interests, Premier and ultimately Clear Channel, Coast to Coast was never the same as the show took a turn and became reflective of “the corporate message”.
The Corporate Structure of Coast to Coast
One cannot fully appreciate the termination of host John B. Wells as the “Saturday night guy” on Coast without having some understanding of the corporate structure which came to dominate the show when Art Bell relinquished control of the show.
Premiere distributes Coast to Coast for its parent company Clear Channel Communications. Clear Channel has a long and well-known history of censorship and extreme retaliation for those who do not abide by the corporate line.
Clear Channel was once a major supporter of the George W. Bush candidacy for President and they tolerated no dissension within the ranks. They were responsible for the dramatic fall of the Dixie Chicks for espousing their anti-war views with regard to the war in Iraq. And in a case of extreme censorship, with regard to a case that I have some firsthand and personal knowledge of, a popular Phoenix talk show host, Charles Goyette was blackballed by Clear Channel for similar anti-war views. Charles was actually dismissed from KFYI radio when he was the number one radio personality in Arizona and the entire Southwest. When it comes to these corporate entities, having great ratings does not insulate one from being fired. Popular talk show hosts are expected to be the guardian of the corporate gate and as you will soon read, Wells is an oracle who quotes Voltaire and tells the truth, but he was a poor night watchman of the corporate controlled gate. Wells discovered that deviating from the company line (i.e. telling the truth) shortens the professional life expectancy of its top entertainers.
The Numbers Do Not Lie
After a period of prolonged instability following the departure of Art Bell as the primary host of Coast to Coast, George Noory entered the scene in 2003 where he has since remained. However, Noory’s listening numbers are nothing to write home about. Once upon a time, some estimated that Art Bell had somewhere around 6-12 million listeners on any given night. In contrast, Noory’s numbers are a paltry 275,000 to 300,000 listeners per night. However, George Noory is the perfect front man and his numbers take on a secondary level of importance because he is very good at protecting the corporate turf and is very careful to only take risks on subjects which the corporate sponsors do not care about (e.g. crystal skulls, near death experiences, psychic mediums, etc.). Gone are the former days of Art Bell’s hard hitting journalism which made the spooks inside of the alphabet soup agencies very uncomfortable.
Coast to Coast became a “vanilla broadcast” with occasional forays into controversy with guests such Jim Marrs. However, much of Coast to Coast today is what I call disguised controversy which presents the illusion of objective journalism.
John B. Wells temporarily bridged the gap of Art Bell’s former independent style that made him so popular to the present day version of Coast to Coast. John B. Wells was clearly the shining jewel of the Coast to Coast empire.
A Disturbance In the Force
John B. Wells is a self-confessed independent maverick with a streak of independence which makes him so very likely to convey the truth on his broadcasts. Wells had actually been hosting shows on Coast to Coast since 2005 as a fill-in until he was hired as the permanent host for Saturday nights in 2011.
John B. Wells’ numbers were anywhere between 750,000 to 1.2 million listeners for any given Saturday night. This ratings disparity could not have resonated well with George Noory who is not known for being humble.
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