Art Bell Quits Dark Matter

[Wilderness]

http://siriusbuzz.com/art-bell-leaves-siriusxm.php

Surely this is just a guess:
"Bell is a radio icon, and will continue his show on the web"

[HumanBeing]

Dude, seriously???

When I started paying these fuckers I expected to not get knocked off the stream EVERY 5 FUCKIN MINUTES

It's clear that SiriusXM didn't know what they were getting themselves into when they acquired Art...

I've never had any streaming issues listening to Art. I listen via online here in Canada.
It is normal for a percentage of people to have issues listening... where's the proof that this percentage is any higher than normal?
If Art had a a few hundred thousand listeners and even a thousand people had issues listening, is that abnormal?
Perhaps a lot of those issues might not be actually SiriusXM's fault. Could be dodgy electronic equipment or the lack of knowledge in knowing how to use SiriusXM radio.

[aldousburbank]

895 users, cooking with gas. Paul?

[FallenSeraph]

http://siriusbuzz.com/art-bell-leaves-siriusxm.php

This paragraph:

Bell is a radio icon, and will continue his show on the web.  It is unfortunate that SiriusXM could not match up to his needs.  Consumers can only hope that SiriusXM takes this issue seriously.  There are indeed issues with the Internet platform as well as sound quality.  Yes, Bell was probably expecting too many callers too quickly and did not give his show time to develop an audience from the pool of those willing to pay for radio, but Bell’s issues should not and can not be ignored.

Wonder if the writer knows that for a fact or is just speculating.

[guildnavigator]

I just shot Art another email "SHOULD WE ORGANIZE A CAMPAIGN TO GET XM TO DO IT?"

Art's reply:

"I am sure that would be great!

                           Art"

[HMC]

We got taken for a ride, alright. What a disappointment. Good luck Art, hope you find something somewhere that makes you happy. I can't sit here and read all these posts and Facebook comments. Just makes me sick. I'm off until at least tomorrow. Hopefully I'll log back in and see Sirius and Art came to an agreement, but I'm no longer getting personally invested in Art.

[williedee]

895 users, cooking with gas. Paul?

the poor website is starting to crawl. i bet mv is loving the ad revenue though

[Noodleroni]

What is this about Art not knowing that his show couldn't be heard internationally? Wouldn't he be aware of that before signing on with Sirius?

I have the Sirus App on my iPad and usually had no problems. Once in awhile it wouldn't load so I'd shut my iPad off, turn it on again, go to app and it would always load and work just fine.


I wonder if Art thought he wanted to get back to doing radio and once got back into the routine, discovered that he didn't enjoy it as much as he thought he would.

Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

[FallenSeraph]

I just shot Art another email "SHOULD WE ORGANIZE A CAMPAIGN TO GET XM TO DO IT?"

Art's reply:

"I am sure that would be great!

                           Art"

Hey - that's cool that he's actually responding. I figured he had his email on autopilot with that canned response.

So he's just sitting there reading emails, huh?

Hey Art, why don't you hop on over to BellGab for a few minutes? We'll be gentle, I promise. We just have some questions.

[aldousburbank]

[karios8]

#1000!

[williedee]

This paragraph:

Wonder if the writer knows that for a fact or is just speculating.

All i know from that article is that the writer didn't really fault art at all. in fact, he almost sided with him, and pointed out that the larger issues at hand can no longer be ignored. very interesting.

[NefariousBanana]

No you don't understand. He his doing this out of LOVE for them. Don't you get it?

His numbers are bad BECAUSE of the errors too. Millions must have had them.

I don't really buy that.  Sirius knows they would have lost subscribers either way.

Offer a free stream, everyone unsubscribes because they can listen for free.  Say no and Art leaves, everybody unsubscribes.  Sirius would have lost either way.  Art was a tumor that needed to be removed.

I wish more sycophants would realize they've been duped by Art again.

[guildnavigator]

fuck...

[Abraham Lincoln]

I can only express puzzlement which borders on alarm..

[Luna]

I just shot Art another email "SHOULD WE ORGANIZE A CAMPAIGN TO GET XM TO DO IT?"

Art's reply:

"I am sure that would be great!

                           Art"

I'll be watching out for that campaign. Do it XM!!! It will only help! First, what's a good petition site? I'm sure that's not a big help, but it's SOMETHING!! Petition!!!

[mcclellanrobert]

I just shot Art another email "SHOULD WE ORGANIZE A CAMPAIGN TO GET XM TO DO IT?"

Art's reply:

"I am sure that would be great!

                           Art"

Please relay this sentiment to Art: We are not your personal fucking army. Put on your big boy pants and get back on the air and live up to the commitment you made to us - not to Sirius. We committed to you with our hard earned dollars. If you are not back live tomorrow - you lose me and thousands of others for-fucking-ever.

[UrbanFool]

This is BS!!!!!!! Over some stupid app errors?  How many listen on their phone?   The Sirius player worked fine on my PC.

I listen almost exclusively on my phone and really have had no problems with it. I do, however, listen to the archives and rarely listen live.

I also have zero interest in anything else on Sirius.

[aldousburbank]

[NefariousBanana]

Art lost a fan tonight.  Who else on this forum is done with his bullshit?

[Uncle Duke]

Hey - that's cool that he's actually responding. I figured he had his email on autopilot with that canned response.

So he's just sitting there reading emails, huh?

Hey Art, why don't you hop on over to BellGab for a few minutes? We'll be gentle, I promise. We just have some questions.

Speak for yourself.  If he has the balls to show up on here, I'm going to call a spade a fucking shovel.

[HumanBeing]

I think it's odd to not understand the frustration that many people feel.  Regardless of what the circumstances are behind the scenes, all we have to go on is what it looks like.  It looks disrespectful to the audience when there was no clear indication to many of us that Sirius had done a great wrong, so that's all we have to go off of.  Not everyone had problems with service reliability to the point that their listening experience was completely ruined, so it looks like something that could have been fixed with less extreme measures than threatening to quit.  Jackie Martling, a Howard Stern writer, often threatened to quit when negotiation time came around, until finally KROCK called his bluff and he was gone --- and the general consensus was that Jackie was being unnecessarily extreme and dramatic, even if they missed him. 

Art may not owe us anything, but that doesn't mean it isn't frustrating.  Whether your investment is financial, emotional, or both, as an audience member you have invested something.  Audience loyalty is predicated on that emotional investment, if nothing else, and advertising power results from said audience loyalty.  He may not be obligated to respect that audience investment, and I am not so invested that I am on the verge of hara kiri / seppuku, but it still means something to come back after all this time and then leave over what appears like a minor issue.  If a significant portion of the audience has similar feelings of betrayal, I am not so quick to disregard it.  In the past, I have been disappointed but understanding of Art's retirements and I never really felt much in the way of disrespect to the audience --- this time I feel differently.

Long-story short, one doesn't have to fall into the polar extremes of complete devotion or rejection, there is a middle ground where it's easy to understand why it looks disrespectful to the audience while giving him the benefit of the doubt (and I am cautiously doing so for the moment).  I would still listen if he came back tomorrow, but I also would understand if people were tired of the inconsistency and drama.  Knowing that this round accompanied a financial investment for many, I feel like it's asking a lot for audience members to sit tight while games are being played.  Many radio hosts with large bases are able to handle negotiations in a less extreme manner and thrive.  Again, this is what it looks like, and that's all I have to go off of.

Nicely put dude.

[popple]

Anyone listening to the RCH replay now?

Any dropouts or 1001 errors?

Nope.

My errors stopped when I would hit the pause button during a commercial break then the play button again. You learn to work around it. The only really bad thing that happened for me was when things went down for like 5-10 minutes and that recorded voice came on.

So, I know the errors piss people off, but these people never came back to listen on-demand? People really stopped listening all together? Can this really cause a significant loss in subscribers?

[Zoxo]

Well... if the show is done, and Art is finished.... what's the plan for this forum?  Are you going back to "coastgab", or is this forum done?  I sure do not see any point in having a forum where everyone is just chatting away wishing Art would return to radio. If this is it... I'm done. No more. I didn't pay for my one year subscription, listen to every show faithfully just to get burned like this. Very disappointed.

[ItsOver]

[VictoriaPandora]

Comedy Gold !!!!

thx, we needed a laff

Indeed, that almost cured my sour mood!

[HumanBeing]

So, what does Art's schnlong taste like?

Are you suggesting the poster is his wife? 

[UnscreenedCaller]

Anyone listening to the RCH replay now?

Any dropouts or 1001 errors?

Yes and no

I've been giving this some thought since it was announced. I'm still pissed off on account of the people who lost money on subscriptions and radios and the way this whole thing was handled. That's inexcusable. On the other hand, if Art's numbers were down the free streaming idea makes sense in that it would build an audience. Some of those numbers that left had to find youtube and private streams, so the real numbers for Art's show may not be accurate. I've had Sirius long enough to see them cancel loads of shows I thought were doing well, and Art's would be no exception if Sirius lost money. If it came to that, which to his mind would be better: to go out fighting over a demand to make a stream everyone could listen to and build his base or to face cancellation over his numbers? Thinking about it this way, I might choose door #1. I can't imagine Art coming back on air to face potential failure.

That doesn't in any way change my mind about how I feel over inactivating his fb page and not addressing this directly. particularly since people paid cash up front to hear him.

[Scruff]

I have had zero problems over multiple devices.  This sounds like Art using the few vocal complainers to justify his boredom and regret.  Just canceled my Sirius account.  Fuggit.

[popple]

the poor website is starting to crawl. i bet mv is loving the ad revenue though

He can impress his wife.