Art Bell Quits Dark Matter

[iBelieve]

Agreed.

Just don't see this working out with Sirius. Also, Art may have the same streaming issues as happened on Sirius.

And his small crew is now responsible for streaming support for thousands? (shiver)

The idea that some webmaster can deploy icecast (even contracted through a third party) and expect better results is mind boggling to me. And I'm not talking about that 300 person test last night.... but the real world where 75000 or more are listening.

How do you support that? That kind of infrastructure either needs to be contracted from a third party or built by a network that has many shows.

I know.. I sound like a broken record. In my IT experience (and seeing only what's made public) it's a very bad move. Live streaming on the internet is always problematic. Always. And if Art is looking for a low complaint threshold it's not going to happen.

However, you may never find out if I'm right. Sirius has to buy in for a true test.

I'll be quite content to be wrong. But this whole situation has alarm bells going off in both my business and IT brain cells. The expectations seem quite askew.

THIS.

[ItsOver]

...I'll be quite content to be wrong. But this whole situation has alarm bells going off in both my business and IT brain cells. The expectations seem quite askew.

I don't have a real warm feeling, either, and I'm no IT expert.  The silence from the other side is starting to get deafening again.

[TheGrimCreeper1]

I really don't mean to offend anyone here, but what incentive does Sirius XM have to acquiesce to Art's demands? Art hasn't been a full time broadcaster for several years -- so it's not like he has a massive audience to bring to the bargaining table. I'm sure Sirius XM has numbers pertaining to the listenership of Dark Matter. In all possibility, those numbers weren't very good. Coupled with the fact that Art was given a chance on Indie and pulled out less than two months in, I just don't see their motivation.

As I've mentioned in a previous post, maybe Art should follow the Tom Leykis model. Leykis, who also burned more than a few bridges in terrestrial radio, started his own streaming network where his program plays 24/7. At one point, as many as 40,000 people were streaming his program. That may sound like small potatoes, but it's actually huge for on online program. We live in a different world now -- a world filled with countless options for providing media content. If Sirius XM won't play ball, then there are other options -- depending on how badly Art Bell really wants this.

[onan]

I'm a big fan of fluffers.

Careful Falkie will kidnap you, and put you on the back of his couch.

[MarkP]

As I've mentioned in a previous post, maybe Art should follow the Tom Leykis model. Leykis, who also burned more than a few bridges in terrestrial radio, started his own streaming network where his program plays 24/7. At one point, as many as 40,000 people were streaming his program. That may sound like small potatoes, but it's actually huge for on online program. We live in a different world now -- a world filled with countless options for providing media content. If Sirius XM won't play ball, then there are other options -- depending on how badly Art Bell really wants this.

...in two years.

[DontFearTheReaper]

I really don't mean to offend anyone here, but what incentive does Sirius XM have to acquiesce to Art's demands? Art hasn't been a full time broadcaster for several years -- so it's not like he has a massive audience to bring to the bargaining table. I'm sure Sirius XM has numbers pertaining to the listenership of Dark Matter. In all possibility, those numbers weren't very good. Coupled with the fact that Art was given a chance on Indie and pulled out less than two months in, I just don't see their motivation.

As I've mentioned in a previous post, maybe Art should follow the Tom Leykis model. Leykis, who also burned more than a few bridges in terrestrial radio, started his own streaming network where his program plays 24/7. At one point, as many as 40,000 people were streaming his program. That may sound like small potatoes, but it's actually huge for on online program. We live in a different world now -- a world filled with countless options for providing media content. If Sirius XM won't play ball, then there are other options -- depending on how badly Art Bell really wants this.

They have no incentive whatsoever. If SiriuXM doesn't go for Art's proposal, no one should be angry at them. If they don't let Art out of his contract, no one should be angry at them. It's perfectly reasonable for them to expect Art to live up to the terms of his contract, and to act accordingly if he does not.

Hopefully SiriusXM decides to be the proverbial "bigger man" here, but I don't see how anyone could blame them if they decide not to.

The only added wrinkle is if SiriusXM demands a payout from Art in exchange for lifting the non-compete. I would imagine they would want what their lawyers/accountants estimate as the total revenue, both in terms of projected new subscribers and their cut of projected ad revenue, that SiriusXM would have generated over the course of Art's two-year contract with them. If Art is willing to part with whatever that sum of money is, maybe Greenstein and company are willing to play ball. That would certainly be an "all-in" move on Art's part if he agreed to such a scenario.

[DanTSX]

It happened again (ART BELL QUIT HIS NEW SHOW!)

almost 1000 views alrighty casio!

Casio

[Coz]

I don't have a real warm feeling, either, and I'm no IT expert.  The silence from the other side is starting to get deafening again.

Think of it from the corporate weenie standpoint. Art leaves, and if I remember correctly Sirius stock dumps 1.38% or something like that. Do the corporate weenies bring him back worried that when something else is askew he bails again?

Corporate weenies are not the most intelligent life form. They are very predictable. They will protect brand, profits, and stock prices. Everything they do has to do with protecting or creating those things.

Will they believe Art coming back will do that?

[TheGrimCreeper1]

I think that may be official, hate to say.  I doubt they'd have a clueless intern in charge of their official Facebook page.

It may be a clueless intern in charge of the FB page, but I believe they're posting a prepared remark provided by the company brass.

[IcicleTrepan]

Sounds like Art is streaming police scanner now instead of air control tower.

[FightTheFuture]

It may be a clueless intern in charge of the FB page, but I believe they're posting a prepared remark provided by the company brass.

[stevenotero]

[widespread1]

Agreed.

Just don't see this working out with Sirius. Also, Art may have the same streaming issues as happened on Sirius.

And his small crew is now responsible for streaming support for thousands? (shiver)

The idea that some webmaster can deploy icecast (even contracted through a third party) and expect better results is mind boggling to me. And I'm not talking about that 300 person test last night.... but the real world where 75000 or more are listening.

How do you support that? That kind of infrastructure either needs to be contracted from a third party or built by a network that has many shows.

I know.. I sound like a broken record. In my IT experience (and seeing only what's made public) it's a very bad move. Live streaming on the internet is always problematic. Always. And if Art is looking for a low complaint threshold it's not going to happen.

However, you may never find out if I'm right. Sirius has to buy in for a true test.

I'll be quite content to be wrong. But this whole situation has alarm bells going off in both my business and IT brain cells. The expectations seem quite askew.

Joe rogan was streaming video to close to 10000 watchers on ustream with a crappy dsl connection. The crew amounted to 1. It is a sad day when redban can accomplish that an it pros say it cant work.

[iBelieve]

art should look into becoming a Youtube partner... Believe it or not Youtube offers live streaming... audio and video... a number of outlets use Youtube or Ustream... these are not strictly video stream sites...

[samysam1313]

YOU'RE ALL MAD AT THE WRONG SIDE HERE GUYS.

Don't you see what you're doing here?  You're alienating (no pun) the ONE guy you're here to support.

He came back.  That's what you (and I) all wanted.  He did it with the best intentions of making this work out.  For example: he chose to do 4 hours instead of his contractual 3 hours.

Sure it would have been a difficult road to win back his listener base even on a level playing field,  but of all the people in the world that COULD (and still CAN) do it, Art Bell can.

However, a level playing field it was not as there was the Sirius "pay-wall" to contend with.  Knowing the "pay-wall" exists, Art still made the deal with the expectation there would be no further obstacles or (might I add ridiculous) hiccups in the service.  Guess what?  There WERE hiccups with the service.   Some of you say you had no issues; but I certainly did and I'm a techie guy.  It took me 3 separate mobile devices and 2 desktop (and 2 hours) just to be able to listen to one particular episode live (I forget which one in particular).  I just couldn't get the stream to function properly --- it would play for a while then just completely stop.   Apparently, these are long term problems Sirius has had if you search for it.   Art didn't expect that, nor did we.   Frankly, to have such a large and powerful company put out a total piece of garbage mobile app is beyond me.  You can't even locate the channel by entering a channel number!   There were so many obstacles to an smooth and expected listening experience;  as Art eluded to --- Why would people pay their hard earned money for such lousy service?  Yes, I said LOUSY...  Satellites in orbit, amazing technology if you really consider it all SURE,  but all Art and the rest of us expected was a decent mobile/desktop app and decent streaming connectivity.  Don't anyone out there say decent streaming is next to impossible;  I know a handful of other broadcasters that can do it just fine.

You guys sure do give the guy you're all here for an interesting and unexpected response to this situation.   At this point HE NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT, not angry emotionally hateful insensitive comments.  You all need to realize who you're dealing with here.  To do what Art Bell does requires to be a master of his art form.   Who else has been able to step up and do it?  Many would say NOBODY (I am one of the many).   As Art mentioned things have to be "right" --- and they just weren't.  He's taking a stand for you guys.  If his mind is not in it, the show will suffer.   Again, Sirius is to blame here and they CAN make it right if they choose to.  Art's request is NOT out of line.

You all need to be careful with your comments that you don't give Art pause to just want to throw in the towel.  With the kind of response I've read in here --- it's quite frankly shameful to say some of these things to anyone but, to Art Bell?  Come on.   What some of you have said has got to hurt; if just a little.

***** So SUPPORT instead of detract from what Art Bell attempted to do.   Make your voice known to Sirius. *****

The free streaming would grow the user base to re-attract the old listeners and bring in a new generation.  Riding that fully enhanced listener base, it doesn't take a genius to realize after the 12 months point when the free streaming is gone the Sirius sign up rate and retention rate would be much higher than the situation is now.  Even if the type of technical glitches and badly designed mobile app we are experiencing *today* happened at the end of 12 months;  I would say there is a higher chance of weathering the storm at that point.   I don't say that to give Sirius a pass on their mobile app and streaming --- they need to fix their stuff regardless.   I'm saying this to make a point --- Art's listening base was just coming back --- Sirius' issues made an already precarious situation topple over.

YOU have the power to make Sirius reconsider their stance.   Look guys... it's either you realize what's really going on here and address your concerns appropriately or potentially lose Art Bell.  Again, at the MOMENT he is willing to come back.  Don't jeopardize that (current) willingness and give him pause to not even want to resume broadcasting.

Regarding your recent purchase: I get it you bought a XM radio and a subscription etc.   Don't forget, Art put a lot of time and attention into this endeavor as well.   It's Sirus you need to focus your attention on.   CALL, WRITE AND PRESSURE them to make this situation right.  They are the ones that failed here.  It takes a delicate balance of having Art's mind on his artform and the technical side from Sirius must be there to pull this off --- and the tech side (the relatively easy part) clearly wasn't there.   Even if the technical glitches caused 10% to abandon ship --- that's 10% too many.    One man vs. an entire corporation;  take a step back and think about who has the resources to fix this situation and then prosper by supporting the king of late-night talk radio once again.   Did Sirius not look at his broadcast numbers from the past?   At some point Art Bell will have his critical mass point and can commence being the king of late night airwaves --- but, that will be close to impossible with technical glitches and rocky start Sirius has caused --- this needs to be remedied QUICKLY.

So I say again please, sit back and think about what you're saying before potentially giving Art pause to think about never returning --- ever (again) --- man.. with some of the comments here I'd hate to see how you treat your enemies based on the way you talk to Art Bell --- again, the man you're all here for.   

Maybe emotions got the best of you --- ***** hopefully Art considers all this turmoil and feedback as desperate emotional crying out to not lose him again ***** .   At this point HE IS WILLING TO COME BACK if Sirius can make things right.  Sirius severely undermined Art's ability to grow and prosper on this platform.  Being as close to a level playing field as others in this broadcasting arena is important.  Free AM talk radio it is not;  but at least the streaming paying customers should have had a pleasant listening experience without ridiculous technical glitches and a mobile app that's not like pulling teeth to make function (case in point:  ALLOW CHOOSING THE CHANNEL BY CHANNEL NUMBER) --- but, I digress as that enhancement to the mobile app is not the major issue here.   He came back in a good faith effort.

NOW HE NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT.

-Will no doubt.

I totally agree with you. Some of the people here who are hashing Art are stupid enough to cut their own throats and taking the rest of us along with them. We want Art back and maligning him is sure not the way to do that. We should all be encouraging Art and not hacking him to bits. I understand people being upset about the situation. I am one of them, but I sure as heck would not say those things said here to anyone, let alone the man we want back on the air. I keep hearing how after 2012 we are supposed to be evolving into a more enlightened state. I sure haven't seen any proof of that. Actually the opposite seems to be the case. Wake up people and grow up.

[midnight]

Why marry the cow when you can stream the milk for free?

Maybe because the Cow's good for something besides just giving milk?

[TheGrimCreeper1]

I'm a big fan of fluffers.

I hear they're quite...handy.

[aldousburbank]

Maybe because the Cow's good for something besides just giving milk?

Luvs me some cow plop fertilizer too fer sure!

[TheGrimCreeper1]

...in two years.

Which is an eternity when you're pushing 70. No offense.

[widespread1]

Luvs me some cow plop fertilizer too fer sure!

Luvs me some cow plop fungus

[IcicleTrepan]

Which is an eternity when you're pushing 70. No offense.

Yeah, this is my concern as well.

[TheGrimCreeper1]

I totally agree with you. Some of the people here who are hashing Art are stupid enough to cut their own throats and taking the rest of us along with them. We want Art back and maligning him is sure not the way to do that. We should all be encouraging Art and not hacking him to bits. I understand people being upset about the situation. I am one of them, but I sure as heck would not say those things said here to anyone, let alone the man we want back on the air. I keep hearing how after 2012 we are supposed to be evolving into a more enlightened state. I sure haven't seen any proof of that. Actually the opposite seems to be the case. Wake up people and grow up.

Yes, leave Britney alone!!! After all she's been through. 


LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!

[MarkP]

Which is an eternity when you're pushing 70. No offense.

Exactly.

I think, if he is really interested in broadcasting any kind of show (web/podcast/whatever), stick it out to his current deal - build a brand new base - and maybe when the contract is up, he goes out and tries for the web.

I'm hoping things are resolved - but I am one of those who totally sees SiriusXM's side, and don't really expect them to go with Art's proposal.

[McPhallus]

Which is an eternity when you're pushing 70. No offense.

And that's assuming he'd even want to come back by then AND find some company willing to take him and his fussy demands.  Maybe streaming technology will have gotten exponentially better by then, but I'm not too hopeful.

[midnight]

Luvs me some cow plop fertilizer too fer sure!

See?  I knew you could think of something.  Do you know how much that stuff sells for?

[widespread1]

If one good thing came out of Art quitting Sirius is that I got to sit back and watch a lot of crazy people come out of the wood work. Boy there is no shortage of them. I understand MV's fear of meeting any of us now. All I cant think is looney looney looney. Gabcon would be a most dangerous event I am sure haha.

[onan]

No one wants Art back more than I do. No one is more to blame for the ending of his show than he is. Did he have problems? it seems so. It is hard to see how anyone can be happy with something then 6 weeks later be so frustrated that they end the relationship.

I don't know if Art asked any other of the "successful" shows how they handled those problems. I do know that c2c isn't subscription but it does have truckers that listen. I see a disconnect there.

I will be one of the first to listen to the next iteration of Art, probably even if it costs money to do so. Sirius isn't the blame here, even if they do have the crappiest internet stream.

[FightTheFuture]

DON MEREDITH - Turn out the lights... the party's over - YouTube4.flv

[TheGrimCreeper1]

Maybe Art could move back to the Philippines and start a pirate radio stream for a few Pesos.

[indigoo]

Maybe Art could move back to the Philippines and start a pirate radio stream for a few Pesos.

Typhoons approaching already. He'd be foolish to go back there.