Art Bell

[phrodo]

I am surpised Art didn't get more money in the Sirius deal. I'm sure he could have gotten a better deal elsewhere, but wanted the freedome Sirius offered.

He should be getting half of any advertising revenue... and I'm thinking he'll make out VERY well on that.

[bateman]

What's the amount he was given?

$75,000 annually, plus half of the show's profits for three years

The whole article's here: http://coastgab.com/index.php?topic=30.msg146504#msg146504

[lonevoice]

Tommy is that you?

More like something JDO would say....oh, wait, he did say it...and Art sued him for millions of dollars...and won!

[SaucyRossy]

He should be getting half of any advertising revenue... and I'm thinking he'll make out VERY well on that.

I still think he may be getting a share of new subscribers. Just my hunch.

[lonevoice]

I just downloaded Sirius to my iPhone and iPad and started my free trial and all I have to say is WOW.

I've already added Arts show to my favorites and for alerts and downloads. So excited. So close everyone!!!

I started the free trial today too.  Checked it out on the PC, the internet table top radio, and on the Kindle.  Everything works great!   We are So Close, I can't stop using exclamation points!

4 days 0 hours 49 minutes

[phrodo]

I still think he may be getting a share of new subscribers. Just my hunch.

Yes - new subscriptions via the link on his site - that's the only way that could be tracked ... but seems his webmaster stated earlier that he gets a cut of that...

[Renaldo]

Also, I just came across this link - http://lasvegascitylife.com/sections/news/return-art-bell.html . It appears to be written by George Knapp and drawn from his recent TV interview with Art, but there are some quotes from Art that I don't think were used in the TV interview.

Yeah, that's a free weekly newspaper, the same kind most large cities have. Knapp does a column there. When I lived there I used to read him regularly. Regardless of what he does on TV or radio, Knapp in print is hard to beat. Sometimes it's a 'fluff' piece like this, or something drawn from his life, but often it's hard hitting, pull no punches journalism. Knapp is the reporter that you want as a friend, not an enemy.

[Renaldo]

Thanks for posting that article. Great stuff.

I don't think Art's doing it for the money either, I don't think he needs the money. But while people are focusing on the $75,000, he's also getting half of the profits. Who knows what that will be, but it very well could be a money printing machine. Also, keep in mind he's making more than Sirius is on.

[Spinner]

I hope you don't mind me posting this - it is from the subscriber content at Time.com - a pretty great article/interview with Art that they just posted, and it includes some pretty exciting tidbits about the show. Again, my apologies if posting something this long is frowned upon here.

Insomniac Radio King Art Bell Reclaims His Crown
The curious voice of late-night America returns to the airwaves
By Jack Dickey / Pahrump Monday, Sept. 23, 2013

Read more: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2151794,00.html#ixzz2ehU9iB4g

Not much happens in the patch of the Mojave Desert an hour's drive west of Las Vegas' nonstop carnival. It's hot during the day. Most nights the sky fills with stars. Sometimes there's a lightning or dust storm.

But since July, two events have shaken the typically sleepy region. After decades of obfuscation, the CIA acknowledged the existence and location of Area 51, a base for testing secret military aircraft that has long been central to UFO lore. And Art Bell, whose late-night radio show once attracted an audience of millions of loyal insomniacs, announced he was returning to the airwaves full time after more than 10 years away.

For Bell fans, the timing wasn't a coincidence. They are the sort of people inclined to believe the government knows more about mysterious shapes in the sky than it lets on. Bell has been speaking and listening to them since 1984, broadcasting first from Las Vegas and then, after 1988, from a studio in his home in Pahrump, an unincorporated town of 36,441 not far from Area 51.

From 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. E.T., six days a week, Bell held forth on all manner of science, science fiction and science-maybe-fiction in his smoky, spooky voice. He was a one-man band, cuing the bumper music, taking calls and interviewing guests entirely on his own, explaining everything from clairvoyance to the chupacabra in a relaxed but foreboding style. From 1997 to 2002, his Coast to Coast AM was one of the five most-listened-to shows on talk radio, syndicated to as many as 500 North American stations and attracting a peak weekly audience of 15 million. Then Bell walked away.

Bell had taken breaks before, most notably a two-week spell in 1998 after his son was molested by a teacher and a longer one in 2000 to deal with the ongoing fallout. When he retired in 2002, Bell agreed to host weekends, saying the lighter load would ease his back problems. Weeknights were ceded to George Noory, his eventual successor. As Noory took command, Bell's hosting duties gradually tapered off. He last appeared on the show he created in 2010.

Bell says the decision to come out of retirement was entirely his, a response to the direction that Noory has taken the show--closer to talk radio's overcaffeinated political chat (Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist best known for claiming that the government perpetrated the Boston bombings, is a regular guest) than the open-minded exploration of the supernatural that defined Bell's tenure. Noory, he says, has "ruined" the franchise. Noory declined to speak to Time; a spokesperson for his syndicator, Premiere Networks, said the company is "fortunate" to have him.

"Not a chance in hell," Bell says, when asked if he would ever return to his old show. "It's not personal. It's just an institutional hatred. I really hate them."

But he still loves radio, and listeners still love him. And that's why, at age 68, after a sojourn in the Philippines, Bell is back in Pahrump preparing for his return. From a studio in a double-wide trailer on his property, the onetime king of insomniac radio is working out the kinks of what will debut Sept. 16 on Sirius XM satellite radio as Art Bell's Dark Matter. It will run live from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. E.T., four nights a week (reruns will air the rest of the week), though Bell says he plans to go an extra hour most nights, putting his new show in competition with the first hour of his old one. Dark Matter will feel familiar to Coast fans: Bell plans to cover the same topics, with many of the same guests, and he's even recruited the old Coast announcer to set the mood.

But more than a decade away can sow doubts, even among the best. "Memories grow fond over time," Bell says, fretting over his return. "My listeners may remember me being better than I was."

Talking Through the Night

America's overnight army--insomniacs, long-haul truckers, emergency-room nurses--need something to keep them company while the rest of the country sleeps. Radio has long been a willing companion. The format favors good listeners and drawn-out discussion, an even keel over daytime's hot temper.

Long John Nebel, a New York City--based disc jockey, dominated the overnight air in the 1960s with a call-in show heavy on tales of ghosts, aliens and witches, according to Michael Keith, an expert in radio and American culture at Boston College. The supernatural gave way to political chat in the 1970s, with Larry King as the standard-bearer. But King's move to daytime in 1993 opened the door for a return of the weird, and Bell burst through it.

He moved away from politics and embraced the solitude of the night and the possibility of the desert. Who better to talk about Area 51, after all, than the man broadcasting from its shadow, who claimed to have seen things out there "that'd make your hair curl"?

Simply listening to Bell, though, could make your hair curl. It wasn't just the creepy topics--aliens, monsters, life after death, parallel universes--but the way he milked the theater of every moment. Callers often sounded impatient, breathless, as if they knew too much and were running out of time to share it. You, almost certainly alone somewhere in the dark, were scared. You had to be.

Bell ministered to the overnight army and added a large contingent of sci-fi junkies to its ranks. In the days before everyone had endless microtargeted media options on demand, Bell pitched a very big tent. And that audience remained during Bell's years away, hungry for his return. Every vague comeback rumor was met with a flurry of online anticipation.

That's what Sirius XM was after. Satellite radio's business model relies on hosts with fans passionate enough to pay for a subscription. The company had been hunting for an "Art Bell type," says Jeremy Coleman, Sirius XM's boss of talk programming. "Then I had one of those 'Duh' moments. What about actual Art Bell?" Coleman got to "stalking" Bell on social media, eventually paying to send him a priority message on Facebook. Coleman's pitch: "I told him that the show would work only if he actually spoke the truth ... We want one thing from Art Bell, and it's Art Bell."

Bell, who had resisted comeback offers from smaller syndicators, was sold. "I'm on extraterrestrial radio now," he says, relishing the turn of phrase.

Though the deal was modest by his standards--Bell says he'll earn $75,000 annually, plus half of the show's profits for three years--he was drawn by the freedom it offered: few commercial breaks, total creative control and the chance to prove that his brand of weird still has a following among America's overworked and underslept.

The audience for conspiracies and antigovernment screeds is vast, but Bell says he doesn't want them. "George can keep them," Bell says with a smile. He's after a different demographic: "The sane fringe."

On a recent August day, bell seems in better shape than he was the last time he was on the air regularly. He traded his Marlboro Lights for electronic cigarettes, and his 29-year-old fourth wife Airyn and their 6-year-old daughter Asia keep him spry. He looks like a droopier version of his 1990s self--not a bad outcome given the hours he keeps. (Bell never goes to bed before 2 a.m.) He says his time abroad rejuvenated him too. He moved to Manila to marry Airyn in 2006, three months after his wife's unexpected death from an asthma attack.

Night has long since fallen over the Kingdom of Nye, as Bell called his home county in the old Coast intro. The sky is pitch black; just a few stars are bright enough to slice through the inky pall. Normally you can see the Milky Way, but the unseasonable humidity, Bell says, has ruined the view.

"You know," he says, "I wish you had come on another night, to see it for yourself. It's really something." But it's not an option. I'll just have to take Art Bell's word for it.

This is an awesome article. Love it, love it, love it!
Thank you so much, DontFearTheReaper, for posting it here.

I was reading it and giggling like a little girl. Great new info.
Art and Ross together again! Auditory heaven awaits.

4 days exactly!

[PB the Deplorable]

In addition to the cash and cut of the profits, Art also got a brand new studio built at his home. 

Even if he bails after the 3 years the company isn't going to tear it down or want whatever salvageable 3 year old equipment there is back, are they?

[bateman]

In addition to the cash and cut of the profits, Art also got a brand new studio built at his home. 

Even if he bails after the 3 years the company isn't going to tear it down or want whatever salvageable 3 year old equipment there is back, are they?

There isn't much there; it looks like a more "elegant" setup than the previous one. One piece of equipment I recognize in the pictures is a Shortcut 360, which radio stations have used for the better part of a decade. No idea how much they cost, but Sirius would probably want it back. We're talking 3 years into the future though, I'm just looking forward to Monday. 

[Spinner]

Also, TIME magazine!!! TIME!!!

I wonder if this is in the newest issue?

I was wondering that myself, because the article is dated September 23

[Agent : Orange]

I was wondering that myself, because the article is dated September 23

omg DontFearTheReaper is a time traveller

[PrairieGhost]

I probably won't sleep much this weekend. I'll be like a little kid on Christmas eve.

[popple]

Maybe the post will be unlocked for everyone to read at that date?

Anyways, we are less than 4 days away from 3 years with Art Bell!!!! 

[Renaldo]

Time is a weekly mag, and I think it's dates 1 or 2 weeks ahead.

[RedMichael]

It is in Bell's blood. He already looks younger and driven in his pictures. Some people can stop and smell the roses indefinitely but not Bell.

[Spinner]

They don't know any more than a terrestrial station would... via Arbitron ratings basically. One GREAT way to "vote" for Art is to listen online - that they can indeed track thru server logs and cookies.

It would be righteous if Art's show would have the highest number of internet listeners in the history of SiriusXM.

If this is the way it works, then may I suggest that EVERYONE sign up for the 30-day free trial via ArtBell.com, whether you'll be getting a receiver or not. You can always cancel later, right?
Would that work?

[RedMichael]

The audience for conspiracies and antigovernment screeds is vast, but Bell says he doesn't want them. "George can keep them," Bell says with a smile. He's after a different demographic: "The sane fringe."

Was probably going to sign up for it but after reading this line i was like "sold".

[Ravenna]

I just downloaded Sirius to my iPhone and iPad and started my free trial and all I have to say is WOW.

I did not expect it to be this awesome.

It's like I'm rediscovering radio. Actually good well programmed music channels with no commercials?? My mind is slightly blown.

I've already added Arts show to my favorites and for alerts and downloads. So excited. So close everyone!!!

Is it easy to do?  Since I'm going to be mostly listening on my Kindle, I don't know if I should download the Sirius app for the Kindle to it, and then signing up for the free trial, or signing up for the free trial on my PC and then going over to my Kindle and downloading the Sirius app onto it. 

[bateman]

Is it easy to do?  Since I'm going to be mostly listening on my Kindle, I don't know if I should download the Sirius app for the Kindle to it, and then signing up for the free trial, or signing up for the free trial on my PC and then going over to my Kindle and downloading the Sirius app onto it. 

Doesn't make any difference.

[Ravenna]

For anyone who doesn't want to read through the whole thing, the high points are:

- Ross Mitchell is coming back
- Art signed at least a 3 year deal
- Art clearly isn't doing this for the money, given the salary quoted in the article
- Art says Noory "ruined" Coast, says he will never return to Coast, and says "George can keep them" in regards to the current Coast audience

This article was fascinating.  I am so thrilled to hear that Ross Mitchell is coming back!!!  This is like all my dreams coming true!   

[SaucyRossy]

So we know this for next weeks guests

Jonathan Reed *Sep. 18*
Richard Hoagland *sometime in the first week*
GIS *Sep. 23rd*

Graham Hancock *sometime in November*

I love the mystery of not knowing whats coming up. All we know is Art wants to spend the first week or two revisiting with older guests and retelling their stories to new listeners. After that it's all up in the air.

I am personally hoping for a lot of open lines.

[Ravenna]

Now is the time, the time of Great Cheer! For the return of the KING is almost here!
Now having sworn off Crap 2 Crap AM at night, I was listening to Arts show of 6/7/1999 talking to Rob Simon about the movies, "Somewhere in time" and "What Dreams May Come". Great show, a lot of the topics about movie making and the internet
still are relevant. And Art's love of Time Travel was very evident. I still have a lot of Art's old shows to listen to that will get me thru work the next 5 nights until the KING of Late Nite Radio returns! Meanwhile in a cave in St. Louis a sad man in a fake mustache and wig is sobbing to himself, "It's over, it's over!" As he hands a cyanide pill to his girlfriend Tomasina as they sit on a ragged couch.

I love the picture you painted!  Haha!  I'm starting to get butterflies in my stomach, I'm that excited about Monday night.  I can only imagine how Art must feel!

[phrodo]

If this is the way it works, then may I suggest that EVERYONE sign up for the 30-day free trial via ArtBell.com, whether you'll be getting a receiver or not. You can always cancel later, right?
Would that work?

Yes - that would work .. and if you sign up through the link on Art's site they get an affiliate referral from Sirius for that. Of course if Sirius sees a LOT of signups thru that link, I'd imagine they would be impressed...  And I think that would be a GREAT way to show your support for Art and his new show.


Also - if/when you buy ANYTHING on Amazon.com -- go to Art's site first and click on an Amazon ad to go to Amazon -- then buy whatever you want from any category and Art/Keith get a referral commission from Amazon. You don't have to buy whatever the ad is for - just clicking on the Amazon ad sets a referral cookie from Art's site that is good for 24 hours and whatever you put in your cart and checkout for during that time is credited to them. 

[Ravenna]

I'm still slightly disappointed that there's nary a word about a guest host for the weekends.  If my dreams are TRULY to come true, George Knapp will be the guest host on Saturday and Sunday nights.  (It's okay if they do a "best of the week" show on Friday nights,..... although, better yet?  Ian Punnett hosts Friday nights).

[SaucyRossy]

I'm still slightly disappointed that there's nary a word about a guest host for the weekends.  If my dreams are TRULY to come true, George Knapp will be the guest host on Saturday and Sunday nights.  (It's okay if they do a "best of the week" show on Friday nights,..... although, better yet?  Ian Punnett hosts Friday nights).

I'm sure they are busy enough with getting the show ready. Who knows, sure I'd like shows on the weekend but if there aren't I'll still be happy with getting 4-5 days of new Art.

[Ravenna]

I'm sure they are busy enough with getting the show ready. Who knows, sure I'd like shows on the weekend but if there aren't I'll still be happy with getting 4-5 days of new Art.

True enough.  I shouldn't be greedy.  And maybe weekends will be "down time," or trying to catch up on Bellgab time.  Or, like, going and taking a hike!  (No, but not at night.... although H.P. Lovecraft used to walk the streets of Providence at night, .... so maybe I can start walking the streets of MY town nightly in a similar fashion.  Might inspire a horror story out of me).

[Falkie2013]

I won't subscribe to Time because of its liberal slant but if one does subscribe to it, maybe someone can print the entire article on here.

As usual, they put a slant of " ha, ha, ha " on the subject of the paranormal as so many in the media usually do when it comes under the magnifying glass.


Insomniac Radio King Art Bell Reclaims His Crown â€" Time Magazine
Posted on September 12, 2013 in Media Coverage

Since July, two events have shaken the typically sleepy patch of the Mojave Desert an hour west of Las Vegas. After decades of obfuscation, the CIA acknowledged the existence and location of Area 51, a base for testing secret military aircraft that has long been central to UFO lore. And Art Bell, whose late-night radio show once attracted an audience of millions of loyal insomniacs, announced he was returning to the airwaves full time after more than 10 years away.

For Bell fans, the timing wasn’t a coincidence. They are the sort of people inclined to believe the government knows more about mysterious shapes in the sky than it lets on. And starting Sept. 16, on Sirius XM satellite radio, with Art Bell’s Dark Matter, they will eagerly welcome back his unique blend of science, science fiction and science-maybe-fiction while the rest of the country sleeps.




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[steve0suprem0]

The entire article is quoted on the previous page.