Art Bell Quits Dark Matter

[SaucyRossy]

this thread is absurd

he is not quitting the show, he's back, he is having a blast, like the above poster said he just wants to make the show as big as it can be.

[nooryisawesome]

As an orginal Nut Hugger I'll say, its silly for people to attack Art for trying to do something for his loyal listners.
People saying he is creating drama etc are just wrong.
He is trying to give the show away to expand the audience, and allow for a better listening experience. In addition he will get a broader/weirder call in audience.
It is lame have a call in show, where everyone calls in from their car!
Art is trying to make the show better, and nitwits are bashing him for it.

Art has said before he doesnt want to do a half assed show, he is trying to live up to that.

[DontFearTheReaper]

As an orginal Nut Hugger I'll say, its silly for people to attack Art for trying to do something for his loyal listners.
People saying he is creating drama etc are just wrong.
He is trying to give the show away to expand the audience, and allow for a better listening experience. In addition he will get a broader/weirder call in audience.
It is lame have a call in show, where everyone calls in from their car!
Art is trying to make the show better, and nitwits are bashing him for it.

Art has said before he doesnt want to do a half assed show, he is trying to live up to that.

Definitely not bashing him. It's great that he wants to expand the show's reach, but making the show free doesn't do anything for SiriusXM. Not sure about anyone else, but that is the only point I'm trying to make.

[jazmunda]

Having re-listened to the announcement on Art's website I do get the impression that Art just wants to widen the audience by providing just the 4hr live stream for free on his website. I get the impression that Art thinks the audience is too small to drive a call driven show and that widening the net will bring a wider variety of listeners, callers, opinions and points of view. The only worrying comment that I can't pinpoint his meaning or intention was the comment about not being a viable option. Art seemed to be inplying that he was loosing listeners because of the errors and that situation was not viable going forward.

[shell88]

Either way, or whatever is actually up with Art, surely he has to expect it will take time to establish his new show and attract new listeners and bring back the old ones.  He may or may not be jumping the gun.  It is what it is - whatever that is.

[steelbot]

[EarthAlien007]

YES!
Awesome, Steelbot! Let the promotion begin...

[Cynnie]

It's fun. Know why?  He's effing with people. I like it.

I dont think that art is just pulling stuff outta his ass ..he's not a stupid man , and he has connections alllll over ..im sure he has already had discussions galore with the sirius people ..remember ..they contacted him ..

And yeah ..i love that art effs with people

[Juan]

As someone with a broadcasting background, I suppose I'm projecting my views on Art, but if it were me, the continued drop-out problems would drive me crazy. If you're not reliably "on the air" you lose listeners and can't attract advertisers.  I worked for a last place, loser TV station once where the transmitter went off the air if there was too much red on the screen.  It drove me nuts, but since management didn't care, nothing was done to fix it. As I said, a last place, loser outfit.

We're in an age of new business models.  People in all kinds of businesses are finding that a good way to attract customers is to give something away.  Perhaps SiriusXM does have something to gain from Art streaming free - we just don't know what it is yet because it hasn't been tried. As Art said, it's a strange business model - at least to conventional thinkers.

[CornyCrow]

Definitely not bashing him. It's great that he wants to expand the show's reach, but making the show free doesn't do anything for SiriusXM. Not sure about anyone else, but that is the only point I'm trying to make.

Didn't people say that originally C2C could be heard from that website for free and then they started charging? I presume that's the same thing that would happen here.

[CornyCrow]

Having re-listened to the announcement on Art's website I do get the impression that Art just wants to widen the audience by providing just the 4hr live stream for free on his website. I get the impression that Art thinks the audience is too small to drive a call driven show and that widening the net will bring a wider variety of listeners, callers, opinions and points of view. The only worrying comment that I can't pinpoint his meaning or intention was the comment about not being a viable option. Art seemed to be inplying that he was loosing listeners because of the errors and that situation was not viable going forward.

I think you're right.  That's the implication.  Whether he'd actually follow through with quitting or not is another story.  If he's not making enough money (and it sounds like he may not be) maybe it just would not be worth his while to stay. 

[SciFiAuthor]

Art did, in fact, try this sort of thing before. As was mentioned, live streaming and the show archives were originally free on his site back in the 90's. I think his aim then was to create a huge site that was interactive with the show (he's still doing this) and had lots of content. The end result was that Artbell.com was, for a time, in the list of the top 50 busiest websites on the internet. I'm not sure how much that made back then, but that kind of traffic would make some fat money now. It's probably not possible to duplicate that performance in modern times, but even just a fraction of that could make it an attractive promotional platform for SXM.

If they said yes, that kind of content would draw HUGE amounts of people. The potential for a show to virally propagate through the net to be discovered by potential fans worldwide is high. Art's always had varied guests, a variety of heavy hitters like another interview with Dean Koontz or even Snowden or something would expose a very large amount of people to the show.

It would give Art a bigger pool of callers, which he needs (it must be bad right now, Bellgab makes up a sizeable percentage of his callers. That's no coincidence.) but it would also raise the value of his advertising spots which in turn would be cash in SXM's pocket.

Would it translate to sales of SXM radios and service? Some, the paid content would be nice for some people and Art will undoubtedly promote it. Will some of those people want car subscriptions and radios? Sure. Would it provide ad revenue to SXM? Definitely. The more you reach, the more it costs and the more desirable it is. Art could cut them in on banner ads and the like as well.

If they're smart, they'll try it and see what happens. Seems worth a shot as a business model. If they're engrained and inflexible, they'll say no.

Half of me thinks they've already said yes and this announcement stuff is a narrative to create buzz and good will towards SXM. They'll say yes Monday and we'll cheer them after being on the edge of our seats since Wednesday with Art's cliffhangers. That's certainly how I'd do it.

[Juan Cena]

It would give Art a bigger pool of callers, which he needs (it must be bad right now, Bellgab makes up a sizeable percentage of his callers. That's no coincidence.) but it would also raise the value of his advertising spots which in turn would be cash in SXM's pocket.

I think I hay have gotten through to call Art on the first try for the Jason Martel show. I think it took me at least five or six times the last time I tried to call into C2C.

[jazmunda]

I imagine that just the very nature of the two different ways to be able to listen to Sirius makes it difficult for those types of subscribers to listen when they are not able to listen using their particular subscription method. That is a car only subscriber can't listen at home and an online subscriber can't listen in the car (without using costly cellular data). This in itself, not to mention the cost of entry preventing new listeners, makes it difficult to build a wide and varied audience each night. Throw in a flaky delivery system to one type of subscription method and it's akin to pushing shit uphill as we are fond of saying down under.

I'm not sure if web streaming on artbell.com will solve all of the above issues.

[ziznak]

Stream the show for free for a little while from artbell.com and then BOOM! start charging for it.  SiriusXM would have to get a piece of the pie but they would widen the audience and be making money down the line.  To me there's too many ways that people can listen to the show the next day for that to even factor in.  The show is it's best when you can hear it live when its happening.  Thats why you would get SiriusXM or pay at Artbell.com.  Any true fan would have no problems throwing a few bux a month Art's way provided they aren't all shut in cat ladies like me and falkie.  The pirate streams are really just free promotion right now and are most likely doing the best at bringing in fans worldwide.

[Spooky Matter]

Stream the show for free for a little while from artbell.com and then BOOM! start charging for it.  SiriusXM would have to get a piece of the pie but they would widen the audience and be making money down the line.  To me there's too many ways that people can listen to the show the next day for that to even factor in.  The show is it's best when you can hear it live when its happening.  Thats why you would get SiriusXM or pay at Artbell.com.  Any true fan would have no problems throwing a few bux a month Art's way provided they aren't all shut in cat ladies like me and falkie.  The pirate streams are really just free promotion right now and are most likely doing the best at bringing in fans worldwide.

Yesh!!! 15 shents a day would be fascinating!

[somatichypermutation]

Opie and Anthony have their own channel and also have terrestrial stations.   That is where Art should take the show and crush Coast, his baby, with his new show.

Also, Audible subscriptions can be had - not sure how these work for live streaming but since this is Amazon they have almost unlimited internet resources.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Comedy/Opie-Anthony-12-Month-Subscription-Audiobook/B002V9Z7KQ/ref=sr_1_2?qid=1383537490&sr=1-2

[Dude111]

I just can't fathom them offering Art's show for free in way, shape, or form.

They know whats going on dont think they dont!! (They know many are listening FREE now which is why they have commercials all over the show!!)

[JimAlmquist]

This free streaming request/demand from Art to Sirius almost sounds like Art is looking for an excuse to quit again. 

Art is flighty, as we know...I love Art but i'm very skeptical.   What do you think?

Take a deep breath & calm down. Art is not going anywhere. He's just trying to provide his show to people who can't afford the service & to offer his voice to a greater audience.

[George Drooly]

This motherfucker waffles more than Bill Clinton. It's embarrassing. He's supposed to be a seasoned professional, not a whiny teenager... I realize a lot of this is "showbiz" but c'mon, he's in a position of such wealth and power that he should just have a calm, steady demanor as he does whatever he wants to...

[FallenSeraph]

This is awesome

[jblank]

As an orginal Nut Hugger I'll say, its silly for people to attack Art for trying to do something for his loyal listners.
People saying he is creating drama etc are just wrong.
He is trying to give the show away to expand the audience, and allow for a better listening experience. In addition he will get a broader/weirder call in audience.
It is lame have a call in show, where everyone calls in from their car!
Art is trying to make the show better, and nitwits are bashing him for it.

Art has said before he doesnt want to do a half assed show, he is trying to live up to that.

If you hired someone, they work a month or so, and had done them some favors and agreed to some of their requests for changes AFTER they had signed their contract, then, that person makes requests similar to what Art has done, wouldn't you be a bit miffed? These are things he should have asked for BEFORE agreeing to the terms of the deal. It is no different than any other contract, once you put your signature on the paper, it is a done deal, and any attorney will tell you, don't sign that paper unless you're 100% committed to the terms of the deal.

Asking for rather major changes to the contract, post signing, is actually pretty bad business form, and this early in his deal, not the best way to handle things. I want what is best for the show, but I'm not sure this is the best way to handle things.

[ziznak]

I want waffles now...

[FightTheFuture]

This motherfucker waffles more than Bill Clinton. It's embarrassing. He's supposed to be a seasoned professional, not a whiny teenager... I realize a lot of this is "showbiz" but c'mon, he's in a position of such wealth and power that he should just have a calm, steady demanor as he does whatever he wants to...

I had huge doubts about Art coming back for a full-time gig (I was an advocate for 1-2 nights a week on terrestrial radio). I don`t think it`s a good fit for him, and you`re right; he`s all prima donna. Naturally, I was shouted down for harboring such heretical opinions, but I realy think we`re beginning to see the cracks form.

[jblank]

I had huge doubts about Art coming back for a full-time gig (I was an advocate for 1-2 nights a week on terrestrial radio). I don`t think it`s a good fit for him, and you`re right; he`s all prima donna. Naturally, I was shouted down for harboring such heretical opinions, but I realy think we`re beginning to see the cracks form.

What shocks me is that we're seeing this kind of stuff so soon. I expected we'd get to the one year mark before discontent appeared, not after just a few weeks.

[Wintermute]

All Art is doing is posing a question. I am sure he is well aware of all the "Warez" going on. (Warez = illegal copyrighted content distro)

I don't think his request is crazy. There are a few other shows that do the same outside of ClearChannel.

Would I drop SiriusXM if he streamed live for four hours? Not sure. It is tempting and I would probably let my subscription lapse to see if I could get a deal (what I did last time). But... who knows.

I already re-broadcast his show on my 10watt pirate FM station here.

[DontFearTheReaper]

All Art is doing is posing a question. I am sure he is well aware of all the "Warez" going on. (Warez = illegal copyrighted content distro)

I don't think his request is crazy. There are a few other shows that do the same outside of ClearChannel.

Would I drop SiriusXM if he streamed live for four hours? Not sure. It is tempting and I would probably let my subscription lapse to see if I could get a deal (what I did last time). But... who knows.

I already re-broadcast his show on my 10watt pirate FM station here.

The question-posing isn't the issue so much as the thinly-veiled threat of quitting ("not sure if the show is viable moving forward" if SiriusXM doesn't allow free streaming) is.

Even if the "best case" scenario for SiriusXM is that no one cancels their subscriptions when free streaming happens - and we know that isn't true since others here, on Art's website, and on his FB page have said they would cancel - where is the actual net positive for them?

Ad rates, which are a miniscule portion of SiriusXM's overall revenue, are not going to skyrocket because ArtBell.com streams the show. Any ad revenue increase would likely not come close to covering not only the loss of current subscribers, but the loss of potential future subscribers who may just listen to the free stream instead of becoming a subscriber down the road.

I'll say this - if SiriusXM goes along with free streaming, it is a clear indication that they LOVE Art Bell. There's not much in it for them, objectively.

[Wintermute]

One thing I will say against Art's idea...


Not one other radio show host has complained about SiriusXM's app. I run that app across four different platforms:
** Motorola Xoom (Droid 4.1)
** Asus Transformer (Droid 4.2)
** Samsung Galaxy SIII (Droid 4.1.2)
** HTC DINC2 (Driod 2.3.4)... very old device

I have never had an issue that wasn't related to WiFi connectivity / 4G connectivity. If Howard Stern can work with it, Art Bell can work with it.

[Wintermute]

"not sure if the show is viable moving forward"

That quote from Art was complete bullsh!t. But I think it is his ploy to get a change made, not an eminent threat.

[shell88]

I will be glad to here the facts tonight. This spinning is worse than cnn's.