Has Your Frequency of Listening to Coast to Coast Declined of Late?

[Gassy Man]

I can't recall exactly when I first started listening to Coast to Coast, but I know Art Bell was still with some regularity hosting shows.  I stuck with it even as Art's involvement waned but find myself going from listening to the show four or five times a week to perhaps two . . . and then not really getting through a complete show.  Anyone else experiencing this malaise?  That makes me wonder what the ratings are; I know that the show likes to point out more and more stations are hosting it but does that translate into meaningful numbers of actual listeners?

[Eddie Coyle]

    I started listening in 1995...used to listen every night. But that began to change in 2006..

   Now,most weeks my frequency is 28.6%(2 of 7-aka weekend shows I give a shot,weeknights with Noory-not a chance)

   The first week of the month it's 14.3% (Noory hosts that first sunday of the month)

   Basically, Punnett and Knapp I give a chance. Noory NONE, Simone -depends- Wells, not impressed- so he's on the avoid list.

 
 

[Morgus]

it seems that the old art bell listeners of course have reduced in the audience in the past years since noory took over.
but apparently a lot of new noory-only listeners have replaced them. its obvious from the callers to noory compared to the callers back in the old bell days when we got spontaneous ones like Mel telling about his hole, and Madman Markham.
No such callers with Noory - its all dumbed down.

[morphiaflow]

I came to the game late--2003ish--but Art was still a strong presence and Noory still deferred to him. Also, I'm one of the few who will say that Noory wasn't always as bad as he is now--he's *declined* in quality over the years. Maybe he hadn't been completely co-opted by agendas and special interest groups, maybe he still felt the need to keep his game up because he knew it was still "Art's Show". Whatever, I think Noory 03-06 was at least listenable and sometimes good.

Of course from 06-on the decline was evident, if gradual--exacerbated, of course, by Art's tragedies early in 2006 and subsequent cutting back to 15 shows a year (15 or so--I've actually counted and he didn't quite reach it every year from 06-10).

To get back to the question--I was a casual listener in 03-04, a dedicated listener 05-07, and a strong listener well into 08, but by that time it started really becoming a platform for the aforementioned agendas and special interest groups--I remember that Coast is the first place I ever heard about the "Birther" issue and I thought it was rubbish from day one. So my listening declined starting I guess around summer 08. But I would still make a point to catch Art's shows, either live or on Streamlink, and I'd still listen to Noory if I was in the car late at night. Of course, if I wasn't interested in the guest or the topic, I'd turn it off pretty quick.

But now, since the "Art quits" debacle, I've pretty much put an embargo on Coast unless it's a non-Noory show, and even then, it's not a priority--as others have noted, even Punnett and Knapp seem to have declined in quality and are increasingly restricted and dumbed down (in their cases--certainly in Knapp's--I'm sure it must not sit well). Sure, if I'm in the car when it's on, I'll switch it on for a few minutes--but how long I leave it on depends entirely, again, on the guest, the topic, and how bad Noory is on a given night. (He's decent for the news of the day in the first ten minutes of each show, it seems, but almost always nosedives from there--especially if it goes into national ID chips, fluoride, birther stuff, or other tea party darling topics.) Some nights it's still tolerable, but for the most part--I switch it to my favorite local "alternative rock" station within a couple of minutes, just because--my ears have better things to do with their time.

So in other words, I never go out of my way to listen to Coast anymore, I rarely listen to it much (I did the whole half hour with Punnett and R. Gary Patterson the other night--that's a 2011 record for me I think), and I can't see myself ever having the passionate devotication to Coast that I once had--unless, of course, Art were to become part of it again.

So, there's my manifesto, hope you enjoyed it. Thank you, please drive through.

[lasertron]

I started listening in 1993 and was dedicated right off the bat--I missed maybe 30 shows total in 15 years.

I stopped listening to new episodes completely when art left in 2010 and now I listen to my own old shows every night. I have a pretty good 21 gig collection.

[HorrorReporter]

Sometimes I tune in just for bumper music and perk up when old Art Bell songs play.

[texaskdog]

The podcasts tell me what the subject is so I listen based on that.  They've had a few UFO shows on lately so I have them in my cue, but most shows I delete.  I try to catch Ian but I skipped the flouride guy.  Gonna drop when my sub expires on 8/4.   Can't imagine listening to the show with the commercials.

[stevesh]

Started listening in 1996 (Graham Hancock's first appearance) and have heard at least 80% of the shows since. I'm kind of a 'captive audience" since I deliver newspapers during the time C2C is on, and we only have two talk stations here and the programming on the other one is worse than Noory (you heard me - ever hear The John and Jeff Show?). Since I'm in the car I can easily switch to a music station during the commercial breaks, so that isn't an issue.

Noory is a tragedy, of course, but I've developed a sort of ability to tune him and his stupidity out and concentrate on the guest. Doesn't work all the time though, and many drivers on either side of me at stoplights have heard me screaming at George.

The worst shows are those where a new guest comes on expecting to actually be interviewed. The silence when they realize what they've gotten into is awkward and embarrasing.

Since I don't work Saturday night/ Sunday morning, I only listen to Ian on Streamlink when his guest sounds interesting. His fascination with true crime and comic books doesn't work for me.

I like George Knapp a lot, especially now that he's been (partially) freed from the UFO ghetto. Shows on UFOs are the lamest part of C2C for me, and George Knapp is way too good an interviewer to be stuck with them.

The two regular fill-in hosts (Wells and the other guy) are OK, but Wells has a strange interviewing style and the other guy, like Noory and Ian, spends way too much time talking about himself.

The real villians in the C2C saga are, to me, the call screeners. Much of the time i turn off the radio when the calls start coming in for a guest, and I rarely listen to Open Lines at all. Do they really think that when the guest is speaking about goverment UFO cover-up, or disclosure or Roswell, that we want to hear a dozen goobers blathering on about the lights they saw in the sky in 1974 ?

[Avi]

The real villians in the C2C saga are, to me, the call screeners.

There was a profile of C2C written for the Atlantic magazine some time back, and the writer depicted "Tommy" as being very boorish and impatient while moving the crazy-sounding people to the top of the queue without screening. Bi-polar and off your meds? To the top! Gotta get some ol' time religion with a heapin' helpin' of Christian end-times castigation? To the top! It would seem that it is policy to seek and to broadcast these sort of callers. Granted, they are sometimes hilarious, but C2C is reduced to the level of Jerry Springer with this strategy. Apparently, Premiere believes this is what sells.

[JustOneFix]

My time listening to C2C has gone down a great deal. Noory has gotten worse in his pronunciation- as if that was possible.

I still listen a couple times a week, compared to nightly as I did in the past.

[Tara]

I started to listen to Art Bell in November 1997.  Yes, I even remember the month.    My cousin told me about the show and I was hooked from the start.  Here was a fantastic host who was interviewing the authors of many of the books I had read.  I'd say that I listened to about 95% of the shows, mostly on my Reel Talk (remember); it was like a VCR for audio cassettes, recording at 25% speed.  I have since gotten an ipod. 
     I really gave Noory a try in his early years.  He was less grating at the beginning, but his obnoxious callers soon soured me to the show.  Now, I may listen to parts of his show about once or twice a week, most of the times just to see how bad he's getting.  I listen to about 50% of Ian, depends on his guest, and 75% of George Knapp.  I guess my C2C listening habits are pretty similar to many Art Bell aficionados. 

[SheilaVG]

I think we all have changed our frequency. Alot of people are tired of George. Besides his constant pushing of products and having the same type of guests, I don't feel I can rely on what he says. He made some remark last night that I doubt is correct but I'm going to go back and listen to the program because I'd like to know for sure. 

I think he seems to have made an effort lately to have better guests on and actually he was very good last night. Maybe he was just very interested in what they were discussing.

I listened to Ian's last show and though he is really good anyway, saw an improvement in his delivery and I don't know what it s that makes George Knapp so darn interesting but he is. I like his lead in about living in Vegas. Makes me miss Ian's lead in and crypto news and how he used to read some email. Boy, it'd be tough to say which one of them is better. Maybe some day they'll sort of take over but until then

I think alot of us are not listening as much as usual. To me, it's too frustrating to listen to Noory anymore. His subjects are so repetitive and boring, he says so much that's incorrect and he doesn't even sound interested. Maybe it's just cyclical.

Sheila

[NefariousBanana]

I've been listening to a crap load of old Art Bell shows I've downloaded, rarely have I listened to any live shows with Noory, Punnett or Knapp.  I usually try to catch Knapp, but even that is rare.

[jinwicked]

I can count on one hand the times I listen in one month anymore.

Most nights, if I am awake, I would rather sit in silence.

[Eddie Coyle]

Most nights, if I am awake, I would rather sit in silence.

   Amen to that. Noory vs silence isn't a choice at all. With silence at least you can pretend something decent is on...

[texaskdog]

I've been listening to a crap load of old Art Bell shows I've downloaded, rarely have I listened to any live shows with Noory, Punnett or Knapp.  I usually try to catch Knapp, but even that is rare.

$6.95 is a lot to pay for two shows per month.  I will miss Ian & Knapp when I let my sub go next week.

[Gassy Man]

Interesting replies all . . . I find myself unable to listen at great lengths anymore, as I suggested, and it's both good and disheartening to discover I'm not alone.  Shame.  The show and concept were once great, an alternative to the predictable and manufactured pablum that dominates the dial.

[NefariousBanana]

$6.95 is a lot to pay for two shows per month.  I will miss Ian & Knapp when I let my sub go next week.

Piracy, my friend.  I've found a cool site with recent shows and archives of shows going back to the 90s.  I'm not going to say out of cooperation with forum rules.

[Mister Coincidence]

Back when Art was on if I missed a show,  I felt like a kid who slept through Christmas.    With Noory at the helm I have gone years without listening to C2C.

[PB the Deplorable]

There was a profile of C2C written for the Atlantic magazine some time back, and the writer depicted "Tommy" as being very boorish and impatient while moving the crazy-sounding people to the top of the queue without screening. Bi-polar and off your meds? To the top! Gotta get some ol' time religion with a heapin' helpin' of Christian end-times castigation? To the top! It would seem that it is policy to seek and to broadcast these sort of callers. Granted, they are sometimes hilarious, but C2C is reduced to the level of Jerry Springer with this strategy. Apparently, Premiere believes this is what sells.

Yes, that is why that fat shit gets his share of grief on forums like these.  Neither of them should ever work in radio again.

[PB the Deplorable]

it seems that the old art bell listeners of course have reduced in the audience in the past years since noory took over.
but apparently a lot of new noory-only listeners have replaced them...

I can't quite picture anyone - anyone - flipping around the dial, finding George Noory, and making it a point to tune in the next night, or any night.  Do listeners still recomend the show to their friends?  Doubtful.  If they tune in for the first time to hear a certain guest, do they enjoy George's style so much they start to listen regularly?  No.

It is not possible that George Noory has enough new listeners to keep a show going on it's merits.  I don't know what the ratings are, but they have to be bad, and falling.

My guess is PremRat considers non-drive time radio to be a wasteland, especially late night, and at least they know no one will hire George Noory away.  They must figure no one would listen to new different programming anyway, so why not stick with 'yes man' George, at least he will follow orders and not complain.  He probably makes squat as well.  I'm sure George has some fans among 300 million US residents, but they could have a bunch of dogs barking over the air for 4 hours a night and there would be a certain amount of people tuning in.  That is about the level George is at.  But he's nothing if not stable and reliable during night time waste time, and that's good enough for PremRat, no matter how hideous the show has become.

[b_dubb]

i might listen once a week.  at this point i only listen via my friend's streamlink acct.  as soon as that goes away i'll probably completely ignore c2cam

[Lovely Bones]

I'm sure George has some fans among 300 million US residents, but they could have a bunch of dogs barking over the air for 4 hours a night and there would be a certain amount of people tuning in.  That is about the level George is at.

I have to disagree, PB.  Most dogs would have more to say than Snoory does.  The dogs I'm acquainted with tend to be far more intelligent and more articulate, and are certainly more sensitive to their audience, than Snoory. 

I think the audience for the dogs would be far larger. 

[Frys Girl]

My frequency of listening hasn't changed. The period has gone down.
I like some of open lines for the comedy, and as I said, I like to tune into Richard C. Hoagland because of the tension between these two freaks. The "From the City of Angles" bit is also funny. George has to take a major deep breath to fake all that enthusiasm and its so obvious. News and Update is the most I can stomach and that's just to hear the slurred speech and Reading Rainbow stuff.

[PhantasticSanShiSan]

It has come to the point that on extended driving trips, I'm more excited to find a broadcast of the John Tesh show than a broadcast feat. Noory.

[rangers1919]

My listening has dropped significantly overall, and have turned into a 15 minute at a time listener. I started listening in 1999. Sometimes when I worked nights I would listen to the show at 9PM, and the entire repeat which ran until 4 AM, with occasional breaks when I was away from the radio.  I was actually getting pretty sick of Bell when he left b/c all he was doing was repeating Rush Limbaugh lies about our need to go into Iraq; later he changed his mind and wondered on the show how we ever got into the situation and used it as proof of all the conspiracy theories he talked about.

When Noory started I thought he was ok, but he has gotten so horrible at interviewing and exposed such a lack of basic knowledge on so many topics that I find him almost entirely unlistenable. Instead of all night, as I stated I listen about 15 minutes a night many times, but occasionally make it an hour. There are a lot of nights when I am not doing anything, and am near the radio that I don't bother to listen at all though because I'm sure it will suck, or I turn on and hear George trying to discuss economics and turn it off. When Rush talks about economics I know he is a bona fide liar so it can be entertaining, but when Noory tries I know his idiotic statements are due to stupidity and can't stand it. On these nights I literally make it 30 seconds.

[onan]

I don't listen to any premrad products. They screwed the pooch as far as I am concerned.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[James G.]

I just listen to George Noory's current Coast-To-Coast AM when I need a good laugh. Can you believe Premiere Radio Network is serious  about this program?

I write satire. But nothing is funnier than the mess that is Premiere Radio Network's Coast-To-Coast AM.  That program is a joke, and a true insult for real Americans who do and think for themselves. Yet, these people take others' money for that crap.

Now, who's being the real Americans now? Not these people. Worthless profiteers seeking personal gain off dumb listeners. Dumb people who pay their money to manipulative guests!

Enough!

[Eddie Coyle]

     The NPR/Folk hippie station now has my ears from Midnight to 4am.

      Talk radio(all forms) is almost entirely dead to me. It's a medium I first started to listen to in the Fall of 1980 due to my precocity in developing insomnia. However, talk radio has been so dumbed down and diluted in the past decade that I can't take it anymore. Noory is just a symptom of a larger ailment that has metastasized...

      The epochal event known as 9/11 set forth the deluge of more "patriotarded" radio, the armchair warriors like Savage,Hannity,Levin(combined military service:0 days) and their endless passion for "The Clash of Civilizations". 

       So Fuck talk radio, whether it's political,sports...hell, even health! And I'll just sit here waiting for the next Flying Burrito Brothers song...

[ksm32]

 I signed up for streamlink just to  dump as many pre sept 11 01 shows of C2Cam W Art Bell as I can find on to an external hard drive.... to add to what I already had "Art" shows.
I dont often listen to current shit   I knew about 2012 and end times when I was 8, fuckin sick of it.  fear fear fear no fuckin way.

Hell ya I dont listen to it live anymore,but its not noorys fault,Its the times & Arts only human and he sounds tired since Ramona left.